Animorphs: The Rendezvous
by aizxana
Summary: Forth of Four stories. Maggie and the Fugitives arrive in America with the aim of finding the Animorphs. They plan to stow aboard a flight to LA, but things heat up when they realise who controls the airline.
1. Introduction: A Quick Recap

Animorphs: The Rendezvous 

_This is the forth and final of four stories following a group of morph capable humans on the run from Visser Five. Led by Sam, they must travel to America to seek out the Animorphs to aid the fight against the Yeerks. This final story is by Maggie._

Introduction

Hiya, my name's Maggie. Maggie Shepherd. I guess that's not the most interesting way to begin my story, but it's probably the most fitting. I suppose it doesn't sound like much, right? Those words could probably have come from anyone. I wouldn't say they really make me stand out. They make me seem like the most average girl in existence. And by just looking at me, you would probably assume I was pretty much run-of-the-mill too. If you met me in the street, you would probably assume there was nothing extraordinary about me whatsoever. If you stopped to chat to me, you might find out that I'm fifteen, I have one older brother and I come from Scotland. You would probably notice I have dark hair that is more ginger than it is brown. I have large green eyes, pale skin and you might secretly think to yourself that I should maybe try and loose a bit of weight. Makes me seem even more average, doesn't it? Like there's nothing special about me whatsoever. Well, maybe that's true and maybe it's not. You'll just have to decide for yourself as you read my story.

But I can tell you now, that description of me, that little bio you read just then that took me less than a minute to write, that is by no means average to the Yeerks. That little passage which sets me apart from maybe one percent of the human race is of utmost interest to the Yeerks, and to them, it certainly sets me apart. Unfortunately, it is in their hands. The Yeerks know everything about me, and now that description could get me killed, or worse. You see, the Yeerk race is searching for me and three of my friends, ever since we escaped from their custody, and they will do anything to get us back. They are so desperate to find us that they have an entire army of Yeerks, led by Visser Five, to track us down. He's pretty keen on finding us. A few days ago, he proved this by showing he was willing to blow up an entire British navy ship, and, more importantly, a piece of advanced Andalite technology, to ensure that we fell into his hands, and not those of his opponent Visser One. Luckily for us, though, his plan didn't quite work out, and we managed to escape. We've managed to escape from him quite a few times, as a matter of fact. But that's another story, one that maybe my friend Philip would care to tell you. So. Where was I? Ah, yes. The Yeerks know exactly who we are, and where we live. But they don't know where we are now, or what we plan to do next.

I'm sure you all know the story of the Yeerks. The whole taking over the world, infesting our brains thing? If you don't then I can't see how you managed to read this far, as you wouldn't have had any idea what I've been going on about for the last paragraph. So if you don't know, I suggest you go and ask Jake. Or maybe Sam. Yeah, ask Sam, as we haven't actually met Jake yet. But, since you're still reading, I'm assuming you know about the Yeerks. And if you know about the Yeerks, you'll know about the Andalites and the war between them and the Yeerks. That's all very well, but I guess you're still asking one question. How did I come into the equation? Well, I have left something out of my description. Something that will certainly set me apart from all but a tiny handful of the human race. The morphing power. I have it. Along with a small group of humans in America - the guys who are stuck in the middle of the Andalite-Yeerk war and are Earth's only resistance against the Yeerks, and the same guys were are trying to find. They, myself and three of my friends are the only humans who possess this power. Those guys, plus Samantha, Philip, Ferdie and I. The power to morph - change - into any animal we touch.

It's an amazing power, absolutely incredible. It gives us the ability to do things no other human has ever been able to do. You ever imagine what it would be like to soar above the sky as a bird? I've done it. It's as amazing as you might think. Or swimming through the ocean as powerful, deadly sharks? Yup, done that too. Morphing it amazing, but it does have it's dangers. We can't stay in morph for over two hours at a time, or we become trapped, fixed in that shape forever. I've not seen it happen to any of us yet, and I sure hope I never well. Morphing - a double-edged sword with both powers and dangers, but a great sword none the less. It's not a magical power by any means. It's a technology. A fascinating new technology invented by the Andalites, centuries ahead of human technology and another thing that the Yeerks are trying to get their hands on. The Yeerks know that my friends and I have this power - another reason why they want to get their hands on us. The power was given to us by a renegade Andalite, Eramas-Corion-Jarvis. Five of us humans, the four I have already mentioned plus a girl called Ashima, had been abducted by a race know as the Skrit-Na. I have no idea why we were abducted, or what aliens were doing buzzing around the mountains, but it certainly changed our lives, and not so that we could ring up the tabloids and demand two hundred pounds to tell our story. We discovered that alien life really did exist. That there were hundreds of sentient species out there, that humans just don't know about. We found out about the Yeerks, the Andalites, and many other races of alien. The Skirt-Na ship, the one where we were being held on, was raided by Yeerks who had discovered that they were in possession of the Escafil Device - the device used to transfer the morphing power to an individual. A battle broke out between the Yeerks and a small band of Andalites, led by Eramas, who had picked up on the Yeerk's intentions. Somehow, Sam, Philip and his brother Ferdie, and Ashima were rescued by Eramas and given the morphing power to help them escape. With the help of Eramas, they arrived back on earth and went on to begin a mission to find the small band of human resistors who Eramas had told them about. For me, however, things went rather differently.

I had woken up aboard the spaceship alone. Whilst I'd heard the others had woken up together, and had been rescued as a group of four, I had been separated from the others and found myself alone. I'd heard the story from the others, how they'd been given the morphing power by an Andalite then sent back to earth in an escape pod. I'd also been given the morphing power by that same Andalite, but I'd not had the chance to acquire anything before I was taken by the Yeerks. Long story cut short: I was not infested there and then - I'm not entirely sure why but I assume it's because they were aboard an alien craft and so did not have any host-free Yeerks to infest me. Also, I guess that Visser Five, their Visser, would liked to have infested me himself. In any case, I had been transported back down to Earth ready for a little dip in the Yeerk Pool, via, of course, catching the Fugitives who they'd happened to trace. There'd been a fight. I'd been freed by Sam and given a beetle to acquire. I'd escaped, along with Sam, Philip and Ferdie. But Ashima had been killed. She'd given her life so that Sam and I could escape. It's something I've not been able to mention to the group. The other three all got to know her and work with her, but I barely had a chance to speak to her. Maybe if I was the type of girl who understood feelings and death and all that, I'd talk to Sam about it. But I can't. Whether it's guilt, feeling like it was my fault she was killed, or shame, I can't mention it. But I'll always be grateful for her sacrifice.


	2. Chapter 1: The US of A

Chapter 1

--America! I have always wanted to visit America! The land of dreams! The land of the free!--

--The, err, land of Big Macs, Flawless?--

--Well, maybe we should ignore those, but everything else!--

The four of us - Sam Goddard, Philip and Ferdie Lawless and I were in goose morphs, making our way slowly over the Atlantic in the famous V formation, after a rather exciting run in with Visser Five. I myself was actually in swan morph, having acquired the bum of a swan, rather than a goose, by accident. Not that it mattered though. Migrating birds commonly fly together like we were. Ferdie and Sam were chatting about what they'd do when we finally reached dry land. It was nothing to do with planning, or anything like that. Mostly it was to fill the silence - after four days of doing nothing but swimming, you kind of run out of things to talk about. But I think they were more that talking. Sam, our self-designated leader, and Ferdie, the posh playboy, had grown pretty close over the last week or so. I suppose in a way we all had - we'd seen and gone through more than most people do in their entire lives - but Sam and Ferdie were different. They were spending most of their time chatting, laughing, and no doubt flirting, leaving me to listen to Philip's exciting, but still rather repetitive stories of his time in the army. To be honest, I felt rather uncomfortable listening to them - last night he'd admitted to Sam and I how he'd made a terrible mistake on duty and had been discharged just weeks earlier.

--I wonder where we'll end up? Hope it's somewhere nice,-- Ferdie pondered.

--Flawless, I don't think we'll be able to do much sight-seeing,-- laughed Sam. --We'd got to travel another two and a half thousand miles, remember?--

--Still, another country, though?-- I interrupted, feeling a bit left out of their conversation. Now they were talking about something in which we could all engaged, I wasn't going to be left listening to how to ambush an enemy platoon from Philip any longer. --I've always loved going abroad.--

--I've not really travelled much,-- said Sam. --Just France once or twice with my parents, and Wales obviously, if that counts.--

--Philip's pretty well travelled, aren't you?-- said Ferdie.

--Well, the army did take me quite a few places, yes,-- he said, slightly awkwardly. --Iraq, as you guys know, and Northern Ireland.--

--Well, that's better than me,--Ferdie said. --Until now, I'd never stepped foot outside the UK.--

--How about you, Mags?-- asked Sam. --Didn't you say you used to live in Africa, or something?--

--Oh, aye,-- I said. --My parents spent some time doing aid work in Zambia. I used to fly out in the summers to work with them. It was mainly in villages, building schools and wells and all that, but there was quite a lot of work with animals, too.--

--That sounds amazing,-- she replied. --I've always dreamed of something like that. It sounds so fulfilling. I bet that, if I hadn't have been abducted and all, I'd probably have landed some boring office job in the City.--

--I could never have some suit job,-- said Ferdie. --I'd fall asleep.--

--What were you planning to do then, when you left school and stuff?-- I asked.

--Play polo, probably,-- he said casually. --Go pro, make some money that way and stuff.--

--Lucky for some,-- I said.

--You could say that,-- he laughed, --but I'd say the circumstances have changed rather a bit, considering I'm now on the run from an alien war-lord.--

Sam laughed and swooped low, her long black and white neck arching gracefully towards the ground. Even now, after all the morphing we've done, I still find it hard to accept the fact that the goose over there, flying a few meters in front of me, as actually a human girl. It really does blow your mind to think about it. Personally, I try not to delve into it too much and just accept the fact that life has suddenly become very weird.

--Guys, I think I can see land!-- cried Sam. --A few miles ahead.--

I powered my wings and flapped downwards. Ferdie folded back his and swooped downwards in front of me like the daredevil he is.

--Oh, at last!-- he cried. --I was thinking we were never going to make it!--

--Just as long as we haven't gone in a circle and landed back in Wales,-- said Philip dryly.

--Common, Philip, don't be such a pessimist,-- laughed Ferdie. He flapped down closer to Sam. --What do we do now then, Wonder Woman?--

--Well, I'm thinking we should go shark,-- she replied. --I've seen a boat down there a couple of times over the last few hours, and I swear it's watching us.--

--What?-- I said. --How can you tell? We've seen loads of boats over the last few hours.--

--Actually, I was thinking the same thing,-- said Philip. --It's rather late in the day and the seas have got quite rough over the last few hours. Most of the boats are heading back to land now, but thing one has always seemed to be directly below us.--

--It's probably just a fishing boat, trying to scoop up some extra fish,-- I said.

--Maybe so,-- said Sam, --but I'd rather not take any chances. Anyone could be a Controller, and the Yeerks know they've got to keep an eye out for three geese and a swan.--

--Probably best to play it safe,-- agreed Philip. --We don't want another episode with the helicopters like last time.--

--Quite,-- said Sam. --So, everyone agreed? Sharks till we get to land, and I suggest we stay out of the skies for at least another few hours, just in case. Maybe go wolves. Get into the woods or mountains if there are any about, and try and lay low for the night.--

--Sure,-- I said. --And find something to eat, I'm going to be starving when I demorph.--

--You're always thinking about your stomach!-- I giggled. --That's always the first thing you think about when we demorph, whether or not they'll be food!--

--Come on, boys and girls,-- laughed Sam. --Lets demorph and go shark.


	3. Chapter 2: Darwin Would Be Proud

Chapter 2

We flew downwards and landed on the surface of the water. We were bobbing around quite a bit - the water was rough and the waves were getting higher and higher.

--I hate demorphing in the sea,-- I said. I'm not the strongest of swimmers, so whilst being in swan morph was fine for now, I would feel very different once I was back in my human self.

--Well, the sooner we do it, the sooner we'll be on dry land,-- said Sam.

--Can't wait,-- I replied. --I think I've had enough of the ocean for the rest of my life!--

I focused on my human self and held the image in my mind. The others went quiet as they did the same. I soon felt the changes start. The first thing to go was my neck. The long, white graceful swan's neck was suddenly sucked into my head like spaghetti! My legs - paddling away furiously under the water - started to grow. I'm usually able to sort of control the way I morph, although it's not really something I'm consciously aware of. I kind of picture the morph happening in my mind, and the actual changes tend to go the way I imagine it. Morphing is a rather ugly process - the sight of shifting body parts would be enough to make anyone run screaming if they didn't know what they were watching - but Sam agrees mine never looks quite as strange as everyone else's. Ferdie can do it too - he once made the antlers of his stag morph grow first which looked pretty amazing. But right now, I wasn't concentrating on making my morph look pretty - I was just trying to get to human - and then shark - as quickly as possible.

--God, this water's cold!-- Ferdie gasped. --I'm just glad we aren't in the middle of winter - there's no way I could go through this again in sub-zero temperatures!-- He was about halfway human - he's lost all his black and white goose feathers, and was now an overgrown, elongated, bald duck.

The coldness was the first thing to hit me, too, although since I still had feathers I couldn't feel the sting as badly as I would when I'd have skin.

I was mostly human now, my large wings had formed fingers, hands and elbows. My legs were fully human, leaving me to kick frantically to tread water. I could feel my beak melting away like hot wax to form my own nose and mouth. The only thing left to go was the feathers. They ran together like a melting ice cream, dissolving into my skin. My morphing outfit - a thin red leotard - appeared over my body. That's another drawback of morphing; we can only morph really tight clothing, like leotards for Sam and I, and tight tee-shirts and shorts for the guys. Ferdie has somehow managed to shoes though - a pair of tight leather riding boots, but apparently they are a million times too small for him and he hobbles around like an old man when he's walking in his human self. But the minimal clothing worked well for us in the water - anything more than what we were wearing would become too water clogged and drag us down.

"I can't wait to get fully shark," I said, shivering. I took a quick breather before going shark - morphing does wear you out and although you get a good burst of adrenaline after each change, you still feel quite tired. Especially since we hadn't eaten in our human bodies for over two days now. I looked round at the others. Sam and Ferdie were just finishing off demorphing. Ferdie was running a hand through his sopping wet hair and grinning boyishly at Sam, who splashed him. Philip was already well into his shark morph. He's our fastest morpher, although he still can't stop it making it look disgusting.

"Those eyes look dead creepy, Philip," I said to him. He had a huge shark's head and mouth, but was otherwise completely human.

--I can imagine,-- he said in though speak, having lost his human mouth. --That Jaws film always scared me as a child.--

I laughed nervously and started the morph. This time, the first thing to change was my legs. They fused together, forming the basis of a long shark's tail.

"How weird does that look!" exclaimed Ferdie. "You look like some mutant mermaid."

"It's not very helpful - I can't use my legs to swim now!" I replied, struggling to keep afloat.

"Well, I guess you'll be going underwater in a minute," said Sam. She had turned a strange, greyish-blue - her skin was the first thing that was changing as she went shark.

My skin was changing too, becoming thick and rough. The skin of a shark is really rough to the touch, like sandpaper - it's covered in thousands of tiny little tooth like barbs, all over it's body. It felt like I was wearing a very strange, coarse wetsuit. My legs, now dark grey, better resembled the shark's tail. My heel bones had grown huge, forming the massive grey triangular shaped fins. The bones in my body were dissolving and reforming as they became the new shark skeleton. My back stretched outwards, my arms were sucked into my body and formed more triangular fins. Finally, my head began to change. My mouth grew wide and huge, the pathetically weak teeth in my human mouth being replaced by the huge sharp daggers of the shark. My nose changed shape, forming the ultra-sensitive lobes of the shark. A shark's sense of smell is incredible. They can smell one tiny drop of blood dissolved in a billion cubed centimetres of water from over a mile away. A mile! How cool is that! My eyes were changing too - they went from my normal green to a horrible, staring, empty black. My eyesight was still pretty good though - contrary to popular belief, sharks have great eyesight. By this time, I was finding it almost impossible to stay above the water. But at last, my gills were forming, and I let go of trying to stay afloat, and sunk down into the depths of the ocean.

--Wow, I still can't believe the simplicity of this mind,-- said Sam. I knew what she meant. When you morph an animal, you take on not only it's body, but it's mind and instincts too. Sometimes, especially during the first morph of a new animal, they are really hard to control and it takes a lot of concentration to remember who you are and what you are supposed to be doing. Luckily, though, we'd all morphed sharks before and had got used to the shark's primitive, but amazingly efficient mind.

--I know,-- I said. --All it wants to do is kill and eat. It doesn't think about anything else.--

--Doesn't need too,-- remarked Ferdie, finishing off his own morph. --If you've got a body this powerful, you don't need to think about much else.--

--That's what's made them such successful creatures,-- I said. --Sharks have been around for millions of years - far longer than humans. They're one of the most successful evolutions in the history of nature, and they've barely changed in that time.--

--Wow,-- said Sam. --That's something Darwin would be proud of.-- She whipped her newly formed tail and swam towards land. The rest of us followed suite, eagerly awaiting the chance to step on dry land again.


	4. Chapter 3: Dry Land!

Chapter 3

We swam onwards towards land. It wasn't too far, only a mile or so, and only took us a few minutes at full speed. None of us were eager to stay in the water any longer than we had to now. The land had looked a lot closer when we were birds, as our vision had been quite a bit stronger then. As humans, it had looked a lot further away. And of course, as sharks, we were under the water, and couldn't really see a thing!

--My belly just brushed against something,-- said Philip suddenly. --I think we're coming into shallow water.--

My stomach brushed something too. I couldn't look downwards - the shark's body wouldn't allow for this movement - but I could sense we were in shallower water, too. The current was weaker, and my shark's brain was feeling uncomfortable. It prefered the depths of the open water.

--Right then guys,-- said Sam. --This will be the dodgy bit. We have to demorph here without anyone on land spotting us. Luckily we're nowhere near than boat any longer. But we'll have to leave the water as humans - we can't morph straight to our land animals or it will look seriously strange to see horses and wolves emerge from the sea!--

--Maybe one of us should go first,-- advised Philip. --Keep a look out so make sure no one is watching us.--

--Good idea,-- said Sam. --I'll go first then, and you guys start demorphing once I'm human.--

The four of us started swimming in a tight circle so that the water could continue to pass through our gills. Sharks are supposed to keep swimming in order to breath. I couldn't really make out which of the other three was Sam - they all acquired the same shark and so have the same, identical morph. I'm the only one with a different shark morph, as I didn't get my morphs until later on.

Just then, one of the sharks started writhing and twisting. It was turning a pinky-peach colour, with patches of blue which was obviously Sam's morphing outfit. Short dark hair shot out of it's head, making it look like one of those cute beanie toy sharks with hair. Sam's shark tail suddenly split down the middle, into two human legs. They lost the triangular fins, forming normal feet and toes. Sam began to kick furiously to keep herself steady.

--I think that must be once of the strangest morphs yet, Sam!-- laughed Ferdie. --A shark with human legs, pink skin and hair.--

--Like a kid with a Barbie doll and a toy shark swapped over the body parts,-- I said.

--Well, it can't be any worse that some of the ones we've seen,-- Sam grumbled. --Flawless - your goose demorph a few minutes ago looked like something I might find in the frozen section in Tesco!--

She completed her demorph. She paddled water for a bit, her toes still not quite touching the sea bed. Then, she ducked her head under the water and gave us the thumbs us.

--Alright people,-- said Philip. --Let's demorph.--

The demorph was a lot quicker than the morph - it's easier to picture your own body than it is to picture an unfamiliar animal. Philip, the fastest morpher, was fully human before Ferdie and I were even halfway.

"Who wants to be first to step on American soil?" asked Sam.

"Hope we don't get asked for papers!" said Ferdie. "Anyone got a visa or passport on them?"

"I don't think they'll bother asking wolves and hawks for passports,-- laughed Sam, throwing him an affectionate grin. Philip rolled his eyes.

"Come on children, I want something to eat," he said, breaking into a front crawl and swimming towards land.

The three of us took after him, struggling against the breaking waves, and eventually coming to water shallow enough for us to wade up the beach. We trundled out of the water and onto the sand, dripping wet, looking like four drowned rats making their way to dry land.

"At least we don't look too out of place in our morphing outfits," I said. Our leotards and tight shorts and tee shirts fitted in well for a change. "I guess people will just assume they're swimming costumes or wetsuits."

"Unlike the time I got some strange glances buying those take-aways in Leeds," said Ferdie.

"I wonder where we are," said Sam, gazing up and down the beach. To be honest, it wasn't really a beach at all, just a place at the edge of a set of shallow hills where the land crumbed away into the sea. There was a stretch of dead land, with shallow dunes and small shrubs, and what was probably the edge of a wood further field. Beyond those, I could make out forests and low mountains and hills. There were very few people around, just a couple out hiking and a guy with a dog. I couldn't hear any urban noise, so I guessed we were a long way from any major towns or cities.

"Well the whole eastern seaboard is huge," said Sam. "We could be anywhere from Florida to, err, anyone know any US states on the eastern seaboard?"

"My geography's rubbish even when talking about British counties. I don't know anything about states in America. I don't even know how many there are!" remarked Ferdie.

"We could be in Canada or somewhere. Or some random island in the middle of the Atlantic," I said.

"Well maybe we should find a town and get hold of a map to find out where we are, and what we're gonna do next," replied Sam. "All I know is that we have to get to California and that's over two thousand miles west of here."

"Maybe we should find somewhere to rest first, though," said Philip. "We haven't had a proper sleep for days and everyone's tired and hungry."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Philip," said Ferdie.

"Well, I think there are some rocks up ahead," said Sam. "We could morph in those and then maybe head for those woods. I still think we should avoid birds for the next few hours, just in case any Controllers noticed us and got suspicious."

Sam led the way over the rocky dunes in over to an area sheltered by rocks and more shrubs. It wasn't exactly a cave, but it did prevent us from being right out in the open.

"I thought maybe I should just morph falcon really quickly, just to see if I can see any nearby towns," said Sam. "Not enough for me to get spotted though. Then we could head out to the woods with an idea of where we want to be going after that."

"Cool," I said. "I don't mind trekking through the woods later on anyway. Flying is cool but apart from swimming, it's all we've been doing for the past few days."

"I wouldn't mine trekking, either," replied Ferdie. "I might do my horse morph."

Sam nodded and morphed to falcon. She flapped up into the sky, did a couple of large circles to scan the area, then flew back down to us and swiftly demorphed.

"There's a small town about ten miles inland," she said. "I guess that's west. So I think we should morph and head out that way now, settle down and wait till morning, then make our way in that direction through the forest"

"Sounds good," agreed Philip. "Up for another night in the woods, Flawless?" he asked his brother.

"Right now? I'll sleep anywhere!" he laughed.

"Ok then," said Sam. "Pick a ground morph you like, and lets go!"


	5. Chapter 4: Letting Off Steam

Chapter 4

--Ok, we're practically at the edge of the woods, and there's no'one around, so I don't think we'll get much notice crossing the dunes,-- Sam said.

We'd all morphed the animals we'd picked for light ground-level travelling. I'd gone wolf, having nothing else to morph. Sam was her dog, a biscuit coloured greyhound called Tallulah. She was obviously feeling the delights of the dog's mind, and was jumping up and down in excitement, ready to go. Philip had chosen a morph that he'd acquired very early on, but had not yet had a chance to morph.

--What's that you've got again, Philip?-- Sam asked. She was gazing up at Philip's new animal body, a large goat like animal with two enormous curved horns protruding from its' forehead and arching down over his shoulders.

--An ibex,-- he replied after a moment of trying to control the animals' mind. --It's a large type of mountain goat. I thought it might be rather fun to try something new.--

--Yeah? What's it like?--

--Well it's mind was a bit temperamental, it's quite territorial and doesn't like being around humans. But otherwise it's amazing. It has excellent senses, and feels really sure-footed. I feel like I could walk up Mount Everest.--

But it was Ferdie who stole the show. He'd morphed a horse, an amazing chestnut mare with a long golden mane and dark silky tail. He was trotting round the little space as if he was at a dressage competition, swinging his head back and forth and shaking his mane.

--I adore this animal!-- he cried. --She was the first animal I acquired. I don't think I've ever felt such easy, incredible power.--

--I remember,-- said Sam. --You almost knocked me unconscious jumping over that fence at your house.--

--Is she your horse?-- I asked. --The one you acquired it from?--

--Yeah, her name's Dynasty. One of my best polo ponies. I bought her from my uncle last year and she's fantastic. Really responsive and very friendly.--

--Wow,-- I said. --I might try and acquire a horse sometime.--

--Well, we might have time to later,-- Sam said. --Right now, my dog brain is telling me to get out of this cave, and go find something to do, and I couldn't agree more!-- she laughed, wagging her tail.

We set off over the dunes and headed for the nearby woods. Luckily the place was almost deserted, it would have looked a bit strange to see a goat, a horse, a wolf and a dog travelling together. Hopefully if anyone saw us, they'd just assume we were a couple of wild ponies being chased by stray dogs.

--Yee hah!-- Ferdie cried, as the dunes became flat dry land and the shrubs became tress. He broke into a canter and set off into the woods, his tail flying in the air, hooves pounding, the setting sun reflecting off his golden back. Sam ran on after him, laughing as she ran along side him. Philip and I stayed further back, trying not to be blinded by the clouds of dust that Ferdie was creating.

--I thought the stag morph was my favourite,-- Ferdie called to no one in particular, --but now I have to say, there's nothing quite like becoming a horse!--

--I guess it must put a whole different view on riding,-- replied Sam.

--Absolutely,-- he said. --Even the greatest horseman could never understand the mechanics of the horse, without actually becoming one. It's made me realise so much, and how I was going so wrong in some areas! They way they move, the way they think, I could re-invent riding!--

We galloped, trotted and ran through the woods for another half an hour or so, letting off the pent-up energy of all the monotonous flying and swimming of the last few days. I took in the sweet smells of nature through my incredible wolf's nose, listened to the sounds of the animals and my friends around me, and tried to comprehend the fact that we were in another continent.

--I wonder what the Americans are like?-- I wonder out loud. --They can't be much worse than you English!--

--Us English?-- Ferdie laughed in mock offence. --I'm sorry, but I could list off more than a few things about you Scots!--

--Oh aye? At least out greatest achievement isn't failure!--

--Failure as what made us English great!-- he exclaimed. --At least the men in our country don't wear skirts!--

--Well, we invented a great whisky,-- I said.

--Which you've probably never drunk in your life.--

--Well, that's true…-- We laughed amicable for a bit, then came to a pause, having sort of run out of steam. Sam and Philip were slowing down, checking out a clearing in the wood we'd come to.

--Well,-- said Sam. --I think maybe we should try and get some sleep before we head into town. We've still got a while to go, assuming we don't get lost, and I think this is a pretty good area to rest.--

The four of us demorphed and sat down on the grass. Ferdie lay on his back, chewing apiece of grass like a farmer.

"My morphing outfit's in a right state," I said, picking at the torn fabric. It was filthy from the last time we'd slept in the woods, and was still damp from being in the water. Obviously, water on our bodies morphs with us.

"I think we should work in shifts again," said Sam, trying to stifle a yawn. "Two hours in morph on watch, while everyone else catches some shut-eye."

"Sure," I said. I suddenly realised how tired I was. We hadn't slept in our human forms since we found the HMS Hertford.

"I'll go first," she said. "I'll keep an eye out for any silver choppers. Then Philip, then Maggie, and Ferdie, you go last. Make sure you wake us all up at the end of your shift."

"How are we supposed to tell the time?" Ferdie asked. "We can't do that star thing like last time, it's too cloudy."

"Just guess," said Sam. "We've done loads of two-hour morphs so hopefully that's enough practice to know. If you're unsure, demorph so that you don't get trapped, and remorph."

Philip used some braches to clear away some straggly bushes, and we settled down for the night. I wasn't sure what time it was, but the sun was setting and it was late summer, so it was probably around eight or nine in the evening. I had no idea of what day of the week it was though. I'd lost track of that when I'd been abducted. I sighed and lay down in the dirt, thinking about all the events of the past few days. It had seemed like such a whirl, everything that had happened blurring into one, big morphing confusion. It was chilly, but I was so exhausted I didn't mind at all. I found my eyes closing, my head drooping, and suddenly I was dreaming about flying through the sky as a winged shark.


	6. Chapter 5: Keeping Watch

Chapter 5

I think I must have managed to get around four hours sleep before I was shaken awake by Philip. Not bad, considering I was sleeping in the dirt, with a log for a pillow.

--Hey,-- he said softly. --You're on watch duty now.--

I sat up and stretched, trying to ease the stiffness in my neck. It was night time now, and the temperature had dropped. I shivered, eager to grow some fur. Philip was still in morph, as wolf. He was watching me, but I could see his large black ears twitching this way and that at the slightest of sounds. It was probably his wolf instincts more than his hearing something suspicious.

"Anything interesting you saw?" I asked, starting my own morph to wolf. Like Philip's it was the best tool for the job - great eyesight, great hearing and fabulous sense of smell. I had an owl morph which might have been even better in terms of hearing and eyesight, but it wouldn't be much use if I'd needed some strength.

--No, not really,-- he said, beginning to demorph. I couldn't really see him in the darkness with my human eyes but I knew he could see me as if I was standing under a spot light. --Just a few a- --

He stopped abruptly, having crossed the line back to normal speech.

"Just a few aeroplanes," he finished.

"Good."

We finished our morphs, and Philip wandered back over to where the others were lying. Sam was restless, tossing back and forth. Ferdie, like always, was sleeping like a log. He was even snoring a little.

--Make sure you get some sleep, Philip,-- I said. Knowing him, he'd be up half the night analysing the situation with a fine tooth comb. --We can't do anything about anything till morning.--

"Thank you, mother," he said with a slight laugh. "I think I will. I don't suppose you'll listen to me even if I do lie here talking to myself anyway, will you?"

--Not a chance,-- I said amicably. --I don't want to hear a peep out of you until Ferdie wakes you up.--

"That would be something to look forward to," he said wryly. "I never get a good wake up call these days. Last time it was that ridiculous foghorn, the time before that it was Ferd calling my own private 'stand to' at a hundred decibels." He lay down in the grass and fell silent as he stared up at the stars.

I trotted over to a random tree and sniffed the bark, slipping into my wolf brain. I took little notice of what smells entered my nose, my mind wandered away from Philip to wondering where we might be. There was no way we could find out until we reached a town. The worst possible scenario, other than being captured by the Yeerks, was to have swam in an enormous circle and drifted back to Europe. Another was to have reached the other side of the Atlantic, but to be thousands of miles away from where we were aiming. Or we could have travelled north, ending up in Greenland.

_Not likely_, I told myself_. Philip's sense of direction is excellent. And sharks can sense the magnetic field of the earth - they knew which way was West._

Plus it was too warm to be too far north, but not warm enough to be too near the equator. I pushed the thoughts from my mind and stared up through the trees at the stars. From one of those stars came the Yeerks. And from another, the Andalites.

After what I guessed was about two very boring and non-eventful hours, I yanked my mind back to the task in hand and trotted over to Ferdie.

--Flawless,-- I said. --Wake up.--

He rolled over, mumbling to me to go away. I pawed him in the nose. He twitched and brushed me away.

--Get up, lazy. You're on watch duty. Otherwise I'll bite you.--

He grudgingly opened his eyes and sat up.

"It's far too early, Mags," he muttered. "I didn't even get to sleep."

--Yeah, right,-- I said. --You were probably the only one who slept. Come on, get up and morph.--

He stood up and attempted to give me the evil eye, but not having the night vision I did, he didn't really achieve the effect he wished for.

"What are you, anyway? I hate the dark."

--Both Philip and I went wolf,-- I said. --Why don't you go lynx?--

"I prefer my stag morph," he said. He narrowed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the image of the deer. In a matter of seconds, rust coloured fur began to cover his body.

"Aren't you going to demorph?" he said. "Or do you want to stay up and keep me company?"

--Yeah, right,-- I said. --I'm just staying wolf till you finish your morph.--

"And you had me hopeful and all," he laughed. He started to say something else, but was suddenly interrupted by a low, moaning sound.


	7. Chapter 6: There's a Moose on the Loose

Chapter 6

"What was that?" he exclaimed. He lost concentration, interrupting the morph.

--I don't know!-- I said. I pricked my still-wolf ears, straining to catch every sound. I heard it again - a long, low groan like a cow mooing.

"You have better hearing than me!" he said.

--Well hurry up and finish the morph,-- I replied. --Then you'll be able to hear it again.--

He resumed concentration, and the changes began again.

--It sounded like a cow, or something,-- he said, once he was fully stag. --Hang on, there it goes again!--

I turned my ears towards the sound. It was getting louder.

--I think it's getting closer,-- I said.

--Do you think it's the Yeerks?-- he asked. --Maybe we should wake the others up.--

--No, and no,-- I replied. --I think it's just an animal. Why? Not scared of it are you?--

--Certainly not!-- he suggested, as the sound was heard again. --Sounds like cows or something. Can't imagine cows out here in the forest.--

--I don't think it's a cow,-- I said, searching my brain for the answer. Suddenly, it struck me.

--It's a moose!-- I said hastily. --And I think it's nearby.--

--A moose?-- he repeated. --What's a moose?--

--You don't know what a moose is?-- I asked incredulously. --I thought you toffs were supposed to shoot them and hang their heads on the walls of your castles."

He shook his head - a strange move coming from a stag.

--It's like a huge deer,-- I sighed. --An elk. Big, brown, with huge antlers.--

--Oh, well, as long as it's not a mountain lion,-- he said. --Nothing dangerous.--

--Don't be so sure,-- I said, somewhat takenaback by his cockiness.--Moose can get really angry if it's the mating season and something invades their territory. And they're huge - much bigger than any morphs we've got. Strong, too.--

--Well, when's the mating season?-- he asked impatiently. His voice sounded a pitch or two higher than normal. Was I making him nervous?

--Not sure, but it lasts a long time. And I'll bet you we've just stumbled into it's back yard.--

The moose cried again, it's voice echoing over the mountains. I turned my brilliant eyes in its direction, just making out a large shadowy form of the animal a hundred or so meters away. It was moving, brushing the leaves of the tree as it headed nearer.

Ferdie stared at it for a second, catching the movement, then eyed me nervously. So the young blood does get scared of things after all?

--Well, we can outfight it, right? A wolf, two cats and an ox?--

--Probably, but we'd all need to morph first. And that takes time. That thing is mean,-- I exaggerated. --If it wanted, we'd be impaled on it's horns before we could morph.-- That wasn't true, of course, but I wasn't going to tell Fearless Flawless that until I was sure he had exhausted his cockiness.

--Out-run it?-- he suggested.

--And leave the others?--

--OK, what if we climbed a tree! They can't climb, can they? They have hooves, right?-- His voice was rising now.

--No good, Flawless. Moose are so tall, they can reach the highest branches. They don't need to be able to climb.--

I'm not sure why I was telling Ferdie all this, I was sure we were in no danger. But I have to admit it was interesting, and just slightly satisfying, to see fearless Ferdie scared of a moose.

--Well, why don't you go and have a nice girly chat with the thing?-- he said dryly, as the moose moaned again. It was very close now.

--Hey!-- I said. --I've got an idea. I don't have a large, powerful morph yet, do I? And I don't have a hoofed morph for the mountains like you guys all have.--

Ferdie's eyes twinkled, all thoughts of death-by-moose forgotten. Obviously Ferdie won't do the whole fear thing for too long at a time.

--You're going to acquire it?-- he said, perking up.

--I think I might.--

--Go on! You don't have many morphs, and it's only over there! I'd take the chance while you can.--

--Ok,-- I said, silently trotting towards the huge brown moose. --I'm going to get as close as I can, then demorph. My eye sight won't be as good when I'm human and I don't want to startle it.--

I got up as close as I could to the moose. --Keep an eye on it, Flawless,-- I said. --Don't let it stamp on me.--

I crept up quietly beside it. The moose twitched it's ears at the sound of my rustling, and made a half-hearted attempt to walk away. I kept pace, keeping still when it stopped. The moose might have good senses too, but I had the body of a wolf and the mind of a human. For the moment, anyway. I couldn't acquire the thing as wolf, I needed to demorph first. I kept my eyes trained on the moose, and demorphed at top speed.

--Try and get it's leg or something,-- advised Ferdie, who was obviously watching the whole thing rather than keeping an eye out for Yeerks. Of course, being unable to thought-speak, I couldn't reply. But I finished the demorph and gently reached out with my hand, touching the moose's long back leg. I immediately started to concentrate, the DNA flowing into me, and felt its' muscles slacken as it entered the acquiring trace. After a few seconds, I took my hand away, with the ability to morph yet another animal. I exhaled softly, then walked swiftly back to the others before it became regained alertness.


	8. Chapter 7: Big and Bold

Chapter 7

"Any reason why you acquired a moose?"

"What I'd like to know is how you managed to get near to it."

"And why weren't you keeping watch?"

It was morning at last, and the four of us were sat in a little circle nibbling on some berries and mushrooms Philip had found for us. It wasn't much, but we were all hungry and was as good as we could get right now. Sam had given us a lie in by doing a four hour watch, having done the last two hours as falcon. Now, Sam and Philip were discussing my new morph. Sam wanted to know how I'd got it.

"It was just there, alright, Sam?" I said in response to Sam's bugging. "It was mooing away and I Ferdie thought and I thought it would be a good opportunity to acquire something new!"

"So, Ferdie egged you on, did he?" said Sam.

Ferdie rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yup," he said. "It always comes down to the Flawless Lawless."

"Ferdie didn't egg me on, I decided to do it myself! And anyway, I don't see what the problem is, it's not like I was putting anyone in any danger or anything. I thought you'd be pleased."

Sam's expression softened. "Running into the forest in the middle of a night is a pretty silly thing to do, Mags," she said. "And no'one was keeping watch whilst you were at it."

"It wasn't like I was running into the wood without any protection," I retorted. "I was a wolf, remember? And Ferdie was keeping watch as stag."

Sam sighed and looked at me. I think this whole response to me acquiring the moose was just her way of reminding us who was in charge. We'd all voted her as leader, and now she liked to keep tabs on us all by wanting to know everything we did before we did it.

"You're too much like an over protected mother, Sam," I said, picking at my mushroom.

"I'm just trying not to get us all killed, or captured, remember?" She paused, then allowed herself a slight smile. "Look. I think it's great you've got a new morph. I can't wait to see it. But just be careful next time, ok? We're in an unknown country, being chased by Visser Five and we have no idea who might be watching us."

"Aye, alright," I said, not entirely satisfied. "So, what's the plan for today then?"

"Yeah, Wonder Woman," said Ferdie. "Do we get to meet some actual Americans today?"

Sam laughed lightly, our team was back on track. "I thought we would go and check out that town today. It's only a small one, basically a village, but we could probably find some money and grab a bite to eat. Find out where we are, work out where to go next. We've got to get from here to San Francisco - that's a heck of a long way. I can't see how we're going to manage it as animals."

"Train?" asked Philip. "I thought we agreed back in the UK that we couldn't risk any public transport."

"Look, it's just a thought. I don't think any of us realised what we were getting ourselves into when we set off on this journey, how far it would end up being."

"Well, I don't know about you guys," interrupted Ferdie, "but this breakfast hasn't quite satisfied my stomach. I say we have a proper meal as soon as we can, before my stomach starts growling at me again."

"Sheesh, Ferdie, you and your stomach!" I laughed. "Do you ever not think about food?"

"Food is a fascinating subject," he grinned.

"Not when we can't experience first hand," I said wryly.

"Ok, guys," said Sam, breaking us off. "Lets get going. We want to go north - that's that way." She pointed in the direction of the mountains.

"Birds, right?" asked Philip.

"That's what I first thought, as it would be quicker, but maybe Maggie should have a go at her moose morph. Get some practice in case she needs it. Ferdie and I will go as falcons, Philip, you go ibex with Maggie and keep an eye out at ground level."

"Cool, thanks Sam," I said, already picturing the animal in my mind. "Wonder what it's like?"

"What would you need a moose morph for anyway?" asked Philip, starting to morph to ibex. I think, by his tone, he meant it to be a rhetorical question, but Ferdie answered anyway.

"It's to scare Controllers down from trees," he replied.

"What?"

"They're so tall, they don't even need to climb," he said. Philip gave him a blank look.

"Whatever," he said, huge horns suddenly leaping out of his forehead. "Just get your feathers on."

Whilst the others morphed more familiar animals, I was trying out a brand new one. I had no idea what to expect as I held the image of the moose in my mind. The first thing to appear was the fur. Thick, coarse and brown, it covered my entire body like a tight fur coat. My body grew huge. My shoulders dropped forwards, growing, expanding, upwards and outwards. They grew a large hump, giving the impression that I was the hunchback of Notre Dame. This was the first large morph I'd done. The others had all got deer, horse and large goat morphs, but my largest so far had been a wolf. For everything, I'd always shrunk. Now, I was experiencing what it was like to grow. My back was arching upwards, almost seven feet high. My neck thickened and curved forwards, but my bum was enormous! My leg and elbow joints were changing direction, the bones shifting and reforming with sickening crunches and squelches. My toes and fingers hardened and formed four boney hooves. Morphing is never painful, but it is always a very strange feeling. My face and head were changing too, now. Up to this point, I'd been a moose with a human head. Now, my face was being pushed outwards, growing a huge, long snout. My eyes weakened and slid to either side of the snout. My nose grew large and wet, my sense of smell improving. My ears moved up the side of my face, growing longer and giving me hearing almost as good as my wolfs'. A curious little bell of fur, called a dewlap, grew out of my lower chin, where my Adam's apple would have been. And finally, two pairs of huge, flattened antlers emerged from my head, five feet wide at the tips, like a tree growing in time-lapse photography. I gave my head an experimental shake, barely noticing the weight of the antlers. Finally, I felt the moose's mind emerge, surfacing beneath my own. Territorial, skittish, but a lot calmer than I'd imagined. It was interested in food, eager to search for roots, or wade into the nearby stream for plant life, or wander off in search for a mate. Overall, not a particularly challenging mind to deal with. It was the size that excited me.

--Woah, I've never been this big before!-- I saw, letting the others know I was in control. They were all fully morphed by now - Sam was her lanner falcon, Ferdie was a hobbie, and Philip was his ibex, a morph he'd only done once before.

--Great stuff. That moose does look pretty amazing, Mags, if a little wierd-- said Sam, flapping her wings and taking off into the air. Ferdie followed her, and they began to drift above us in lazy circles.

--That's what you were making a fuss about last night?-- Ferdie scoffed. --"Impaled on it's horns,"that'swhat you told me. I don't think so.--

--Lets get going,-- said Philip making his way into the depths of the forest. Sam and Ferdie led the way from the sky leaving Philip and I to get to know our morphs a little better.


	9. Chapter 8: A Bit of Change

_Authors Note: I'm imagining the Animorphs to live In San Francisco, and so this is where the fugitives much make their way. Of curse, we never found out exactly where they lived, all we know from the books was that it was in California. I guess San Francisco seems a likely city and it works for my story._

Chapter 8

Philip and I trekked north for an hour or so, led by Sam and Ferdie who were flying on ahead. I was still getting to grips with my moose morph. It's so strange morphing an animal for the first time, kind of like driving a new car. Of course, it's strange full stop, morphing any animal! The moose was a pretty decent morph; sure footed, good senses, able to cross through most terrains. It was a good swimmer, with was useful when we had to cross a river. Whilst Philip had demorphed, gone hawk and flown over, I'd just waded through easily, over to the other side before Philip was even fully hawk.

--Mags? Philip?-- I heard Sam call some time later. --We're coming up to a road now. We're nearly in the outskirts of town. You two might want to join us in the air.--

Philip, who had remained hawk and was now riding on one of my antlers, keeping watch around us, spread his powerful buzzard wings and soared up into the sky.

--Ok,-- I replied. --Be with you in a few minutes.-- I concentrated on my human self and quickly morphed back to human, then focused on my bird of prey morph. Soon, I was an enormous white-tailed eagle soaring over the tree-tops.

--Lets get over the road,-- I suggested. --It's a warm day - there should be some great thermals.--

We glided over the hot concrete, a few hundred meters away from each other to prevents arousing suspicion. I felt the pillar of warm air open up my wings, and I glided up lazily to the bellies of the clouds.

--This is so much more fun than the swan morph,-- I commented. --As a raptor, you can just drift about on the thermals, barely flapping your wings.--

--Well, with your wingspan, no wonder you can soar,-- said Ferdie. --Us falcons have to flap. But who wants to soar? I'm going to have some fun!--

I trained my laser-sharp eagle eyes on Ferdie, who was about three hundred meters in front of me, slightly to my right, dashing crazily through the air, up, down, left and right, like a fighter pilot. Suddenly, he tucked back his wings and went into a super-fast dive, rocketing towards the ground like a bullet. He opened his wings just a second before he hit the ground, then flapped back upwards towards Sam.

--Some fun, huh?-- he yelled to her. --Want to give it a go?--

--Why not?-- she grinned. She was a lanner falcon, which, like Ferdie's hobbie, was much more agile in the air than my eagle. The two of them went into their own little Top Gun display, showing off their dazzling aero-dynamics.

--Children,-- muttered Philip. His buzzard morph was more suited to soaring than acrobatics, and was gliding patiently along somewhere behind me.

From the air, and with my fantastic vision, we were able to make out the sounding landscape a lot better. I could just make out the coastline where we'd entered the new continent, seeing it sweep outwards and back in on itself in a smooth arch-shaped bay. I saw the forest sweeping for miles in all directions, the road below us cutting through the middle of the forest like a long, grey scar. And, to the north, I could make out the town, a sprawling mass of grey concrete in this otherwise very green and untouched area. The four of us flew on towards it, eager to get back to civilisation.

--Where shall we eat?-- asked Ferdie, to whom the subject of food was always very appealing. --There's a nice little restaurant down there.--

--Or a Mac Donald's,-- I observed. --Can't go anywhere without coming across a Maccie D's.--

--Well, we have to find some money first,-- Philip said. --Just like we did in Leeds. Keep an eye out for some cash.--

--How very glamorous,-- Ferdie said dryly. --How I wish we'd been able to morph credit cards.--

--Credit cards would have got us traced,-- Sam said.

We soared over the town, descending through the air, keeping an eye out for any money. It wasn't a very large town, there was your school, your shopping centre, or mall as I believe they call it here, your main roads and your blocks of houses in the suburbs.

--There's a little square on shops, guys,-- I pointed out. --Just behind that big radio transmitter. I can see loads of loose change dropped there.--

We flapped towards the parade of shops. Ferdie sighed when he saw the number of people around.

--Oh god,-- he said. --We're going to look like such skanks walking around picking up change.--

--Well, we need money to buy food, Flawless,-- said Philip. --If you can think of another way to get some quick cash, I'm all yours.--

--Busking? Anyone sing here? Ferdie? You like the sound of your own voice. Go and stand outside a shop and give us your stuff.-- I suggested jokingly.

--I'm not singing anything.-- Ferdie retorted. --Maybe you girls could put on a gymnastics display. At least you're wearing the right clothes.--

--Well you don't look too bad, Ferd,-- Sam said. --You're the only one who's covered their legs and is wearing shoes.--

--Yeah, Ferdie, you can get us the money and buy us breakfast,-- I laughed.

We demorphed behind a couple of old dumpsters. It was smelly, cramped and dark, but at least it was out of sight. Morphing is not a glamorous job. We crept out from behind the bins and went to pick up the money we'd spotted as birds.

"We look like such tramps," I said. "Look at my hair, Sam. It looks like a rats' nest!" I gave a half-hearted attempt to run my fingers through the knots, trying to brush out some of the dirt. Sam was brushing her leotard, the blue fabric filthy and torn.

"Maybe we could do with some new morphing suits too," she said, giving some on lookers a dirty look when she caught them staring.

I picked up a coin. "Are these US dollars?" I asked. "I'm not too sure what they look like."

Philip took the coin from me. "In God we trust," he read. "I think that's a quarter."

"How much is that in pounds?"

"Not much. About eighteen pence."

"Great," I said sarcastically. "That's going to get us far."

Ferdie came over to us, holding a handful of dirty coins and ripped notes. "This is everything I could find," he said. We sat on a bench and counted the money.

"Errr, six dollars and fifty cents," I calculated. "Not bad for a few minutes scrounging. I bet if homeless people did this, they'd make a lot more money than just begging."

"Yeah, but they don't have hawk eyes to look for it first," Philip said.

I stood up, giving the change to Sam. "Where shall we eat then?" I asked.

"Sam gave me a look and grinned. "Well, Flawless is going to hate it, but I think there's only one place we can go to buy something for this amount of money. And probably the only place where you'll get people dressed even stranger than we are."

Ferdie looked blank for a second, then rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please!" he moaned. "Do you know how bad that stuff is for you?"


	10. Chapter 9: The Burger and The Newspaper

Chapter 9

"Hi, err, three Big Macs and one Chicken McNugget, four regular fries, three lemonades and a coke, please," requested Sam, at the counter of the wonderful monstrosity that is MacDonald's.

"Would you like Supersize?" the assistant asked.

"Pardon me?" Sam blinked.

"Would you like to go Supersize?" the assistant repeated.

Sam looked a little bewildered. "Um, no, I think we'll just go with the normal ones," she said, handing over the change. The girl passed her a tray of wrapped burgers and chips, all greasy, all fatty, and all amazingly under six dollars.

"Here we are, boys and girls," grinned Sam, as she passed us our burgers. "Make it last, it's all were going to have to eat for a while."

Ferdie was suspiciously eyeing his burger. I was under the impression he didn't eat fast food very much. "This is food?" he asked. "It looks like a lump of regurgitated cat food."

"Well, we couldn't afford a gourmet meal, Flawless," I said, picking up some napkins and a few sachets of tomato ketchup. "Come on, guys, lets go sit down."

We sat down at a table near the window next to some guy reading a newspaper, and started tucking into our food. The place was pretty busy, there were quite a few families with young children, and several kids around our age sipping cappuccinos and trying to look grown-up.

"Guess it's the weekend," I said. "Otherwise these kids would all be at school."

"Probably still be the summer holidays here, Mags," said Philip.

"I've completely lost track of the days of the week," Sam said. "Not even sure if it's still August."

Luckily, in regards to our morphing outfits, we didn't look too much out of place. One of the families were obviously having a kids' party, and were all dressed up as superheroes. Even one of the parents was wearing a tight lycra Batman costume.

"Well, we're defiantly in America, alright," Philip said. "The accent is very familiar."

"Hmm, but where abouts?" wondered Sam. "And where to go from here?"

Just then, a guy at the table next to us got up and left, leaving his newspaper on the table. I quickly reached over and grabbed the paper, spreading it out on the table in front of us.

"August the 31st," read Sam. "Assuming this is today's paper, at least."

"Is it a local paper?" Philip asked.

"The _Cove Bay Times_," said Sam. "Not heard of it, so I guess it must be a local."

"Where's Cove Bay?" I asked.

"No idea, but I'm going to try and find out. Lets hope Controllers don't like eating in fast food places."

She got up from the table, taking a sip of her lemonade, and walked over to a middle-aged woman sitting on her own a few tables away.

"Excuse me?" she said.

The woman turned around. "Sorry?"

"Um, sorry to interrupt you and everything, but I wondered if you could assist me and my friends quickly." She turned and mentioned towards myself and the others. The woman gave us a quick glance, not following.

"We were on a, um, road trip with some friends, but we got lost," Sam said. "So…this might sound really stupid, but could you tell us where us are?"

"You don't know where you are?"

"No," said Sam blushing. "What's the name of this town? And, um, what state are we in?"

The woman blinked. "You're English, right?"

Sam was a little taken aback. "Well, yeah, but-"

"You Brits," she sighed. "Coming over and not knowing how to handle our way of life."

Sam attempted to smile, giving her a 'yeah, that's us!' kind of look.

"This is Cove Bay," the woman said, picking up her tray and walking over to the rest of us. She sat down at the table next to us, and gave an amicable roll of her eyes. "State of Connecticut. You kids college students?"

"Sort of," Sam said. "We got here last night with two of our mates. Now they've taken off somewhere and got our mobiles with them."

"Your cell phones? Have you called the cops?"

"No - I think they just went to find a motel or something. They've just started going out with each other," Sam said, winking.

"I see," smiled the woman. "Didn't tell you what they were up to, I guess? You teenagers!"

Whilst Sam and the woman continued to chat, I scanned through the newspaper, half reading it, half trying to work out whereabouts Connecticut was. Ferdie too seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me.

"I haven't even heard of this state," he said. "My geography's rubbish when I'm talking about Britain, not to mention other countries."

"I've heard of the state, I'm just not one hundred percent sure where it is. Obviously it's somewhere on the east coast, but whereabouts exactly, I don't know. Any ideas, Philip?"

"No more than you," he said, finishing his burger and popping some fries into his mouth. "They call these chips?" he said. "These tiny little things?"

"Actually, they call these fries," I told him. "Chips are crisps here. And this," I said, taking sip from my lemonade, "is a soda."

"How peculiar," replied Ferdie, who was reading the newspaper over my shoulder. Suddenly, he leant over me and grabbed the paper from under my tray.

"Careful, Ferd!" I snapped. "You're knocking my stuff everywhere."

"Sorry!" he laughed. "Just want to have a closer look at something." He skimmed through the articles on the page, then mentioned to Philip and I.

"Look at this," he said. "Some new company is buying Concorde."

"Really?" I said. "Who?"

Ferdie began to read aloud. "Not sure. It says, 'The up and coming company - whose name will be announced on the news this morning - which successfully won the bid to buying Concorde, the classic faster-than-sound luxury aircraft, is offering VIPs exclusive tickets for its' first flight.'."

"Cool," I said. "My dad was really into Concorde. He collected all the memorabilia and was pretty upset when they retired those planes. He'll think it's great to see it in action again. I wonder who's taking over? Probably Virgin."

"Doubt it," Philip said. "It said the company was 'up and coming'."

Ferdie was reading ahead. "Guys, this is the interesting bit though," he said. "The new aircraft will be making its' maiden voyage from New York City to Los Angeles on September the second, carrying a handful of lucky invitees. The selected few have not yet been named, but are rumoured to include Madonna, Hilary Clinton, Richard Branson and a host of other celebrities and politicians."

"Wow," I said. "Madonna. Talk about an illustrious return for the mighty aircraft."

"Yeah, but didn't you hear when it's flying? If this is today's paper, then it's flying out the day after tomorrow!"

"Yeah?" I said, not following.

Ferdie's eyes twinkled. "It's flying to Los Angeles. My geography may not be all that great, but I do know that LA is in the same state as San Francisco. It's what, about two and a half thousand miles to San Francisco? How long would that take to go as geese or cross country?"

Philip took a deep breath. "Flawless, don't be stupid," he muttered.

"And how long would that take by Concorde?" Ferdie said, ignoring him. "It says here, less than three hours!"

"We could go as insects and hide in the cargo area! We'd only need to demorph once!" I said.

"Think of how much time that would save us," he said.

"Think of how many ways we could get killed!" said Philip. "We agreed right from the start - no human transport! And who knows how many Controllers might be on board? We've already tried to hitch a lift across the Atlantic - have you forgotten what we made of that?"

"Come on, Philip, let's at least talk to Sam," Ferdie pleaded, turning round and tapping her on the shoulder. Sam stopped chatting to the woman, looking up.

"Just a second," she smiled at the woman, turning to us.

"Sam, what do you think about hitching a lift to LA?" Ferdie asked her, thrusting her the article. She read through it, her facial expression showing both excitement and a frown.

"I don't think we can risk it," Philip hissed at her and Ferdie.

"It would save us so much time though!" Ferdie protested. He lowered his voice. "And we could just go in as insects in the cargo area - we'd be perfectly safe!"

Sam looked at us. She was obviously torn between saving us a great deal or time and making a very risky gamble. She was about to say something, when the woman she was speaking to turned round and joined in our conversation.

"You guys see that piece about Concorde?" she asked. "Pretty exciting, huh?"

"Very," I said. "You, err, don't know who this company who bought it, do you? It says here it was going to be announced this morning."

"Actually, I do recall hearing it on the radio," she said. "I think there were two companies, actually. The business and some partner organisation."

I looked at her expectantly. "Any idea who it was?"

"Visser Enterprises," said the woman. "That's the one. Some new company. And they're going hand in hand with that group, The Sharing."


	11. Chapter 10: Too Many Coincidences

Chapter 10

"Well, that's it then," said Sam. "There's no way we're even going to think about stowing aboard now."

"We don't actually know it's…you know… do we?" I said. "It might just be a coincidence."

"Pretty big coincidence," muttered Philip. "Sam's right. I think we should back off."

"I think we should get some more information," I said. "Find out a bit more about this new company and The Sharing, whatever that is."

I turned back to the woman, who was now reading a magazine. "Do you know if there's an internet café or library around here we could use?"

"Yeah, there's one just round the corner from here," she said. "Small place…think it's called MegaClick."

"Thanks."

Sam said goodbye to the woman, and we left the restaurant and headed for the internet café. The streets were a lot busier now, and we attracted yet more looks regarding our strange clothes.

"Bit stupid for the Yeerks to brand their company with the name of their highest rank," Ferdie said. "Why not just scream at everyone that 'this company is run by alien parasites!'"

"They're probably just vain or having a laugh," Sam said. "Hopefully, they're assuming the only people who know what a visser is will be Controllers."

"What about us? Surely the Yeerks would know that we know what a visser is."

"Maybe it's aimed at the human resistance - you know, that Jake guy we're risking our lives to find. Visser Five doesn't know for sure we're in the US, or what our plans are, does he?"

"Might as well just cry out 'come and ambush us, human resistance!'" said Ferdie.

"Or they might have nothing at all to do with Yeerks after all," said Sam.

"Well, in my point of view," said Philip, "there are three possible angles of looking at it. One; it may well have absolutely nothing to do with the Yeerks whatsoever. B; it is run by the Yeerks, and it's some inside joke they're playing, not realising to whom they are advertising. Last; the Yeerks are perfectly aware that it will attract the attention of the human resistance, and it's some kind of trap."

"You know, it's really not that difficult to count to three, Philip," smiled Ferdie.

We reached the café, and stepped inside. The room was buzzing with the sound of computer activity and the strong smell of coffee. Sam went and spent the last of our money on booking a terminal for half an hour, and buying us some cake to share.

"Mmm, chocolate," I said, my mouth watering. "Excellent choice."

"Here we are," she said. "Computer three." She put the cake down on the table in front on us, and logged on. Luckily it wasn't one of those cafes where you have to have a regular account with them. In a minute or so, the screen popped up, and Sam clicked on the little Internet Explorer icon.

"I'm glad you know how to work computers, Wonder Woman, because I sure don't," said Ferdie, stuffing his mouth with cake.

"Oh, it's pretty easy," she said. "Just click on what you want to see and there you go." She did a search for Visser Enterprises, and was soon taken to their flashy web page. We scanned through the information, looking for anything that might given us a clue to who they were, or what their plans were.

"No clue as to who it's really run by," said Philip. "Mind you, I don't expect one to announce such information."

"Who are the celebrities on the first trip?" I asked. Sam clicked around, searching.

"Doesn't say," she said. "But it does say that they are given away a handful of tickets to some of the biggest names in politics, sport and entertainment today."

"Well, if they were Yeerks, and you wanted to bag some of the top humans on earth, what better way than to invite them all on a flashy launch flight, then infest them all? Imagine how much power they'd get, infesting so many important and influential people." Philip asked. "They'd have well-known people advertising fronts for the Yeerks."

Sam frowned. "They'd have to be controlling a huge amount of money to make that possible though," she said.

"Well, with their technology, they're probably hacking into all the major banks and the stock market," Philip said. "And maybe this Sharing thing is quite successful, too."

"What is the Sharing, anyway?" I asked. "There's a link to it there, Sam, why don't you click on it?"

Sam clicked on the link, and another window popped up. A funky web page with the words 'The Sharing' and some corny slogan appeared, followed by some text and a bunch of photos.

"Looks like some kind of boy and girl Scouts thing," I said, reading. "Turning people's lives around, making them part of something 'bigger'. It says many of their members were living difficult and unfulfilling lives, and the sharing has helped change all that."

"Looks to me more like a combined Alcoholics Anonymous, a probation board and boy Scouts," muttered Philip wryly.

"That does sound like something the Yeerks would do though," I whispered. "Targeting people who are having problems with their lives and promising to help them get back on track. And as for joining something bigger, well how about an alien conspiracy?"

Sam clicked back onto the Visser Enterprises web page. "There's a bit more, something I didn't notice before," she said. "Once the Concorde has landed in LA, the celebrities will be transported by first class coach to the company's headquarters in San Francisco for an after flight dinner dance, and then, if they please, onto a top nightclub."

"San Francisco?" Ferdie said. "That's no coincidence. That has to be aimed at the resistance. That's where they live, for heaven's sake."

"It seems to me that the city of San Francisco is a major part of the Yeerk invasion," Philip said, lowering his voice. "The resistance live there and were given the power to morph there. And if I can remember that far back, Eramas said one of the Vissers had murdered an Andalite Prince there, too."

"That's a lot of coincidences, all rolled into one," said Sam. "So, what if we assume for the time being that this _is _a Yeerk enterprise? Maybe the company headquarters are really where the Yeerks are running their invasion. Maybe they have a Yeerk pool there, and that's where they infest humans. They would be where they're taking the celebrities."

"You still want to hitch a lift with them, Ferdie?"


	12. Chapter 11: Ah, The Glamour!

Chapter 11

"I'm still up for it," said Ferdie.

"You're always up for anything, Flawless," replied Philip. "That's what makes you so dangerous."

We had just left MegaClick, our time on the computers having run out, and were now back to wandering around the streets.

"Think of what an opportunity this is for us," Ferdie went on

"You said that onboard the _Hertford_, and look at where it got us," Sam said.

"Yeah, we blew up the ship, a load of Yeerks and some technology they were going to use to advance their invasion!"

"Nearly blowing ourselves up in the process."

I took a deep breath, speaking up. "The Yeerks don't know we're so close to their mission," I said. "They are probably aiming this whole trap at the resistance! The last they'll expect is for the Fugitives to get involved."

"See, Sam?" Ferdie winked, tapping her playfully on the arm. "Mags agrees with me. If we morph wasps or flies or whatever, we can just hop on, completely undetected, and hop off again when we reach LA!"

"Aye," I said. "Then we could go as geese and follow them to the Yeerk headquarters, and we'll find out exactly where the Pool is."

"We don't have to try and take them down, or anything," argued Ferdie. "Just use this opportunity as a spying mission. The Yeerks are obviously predicting that the resistance are going to show up anyway, or they wouldn't have splashed their name all over the media, so they are probably expecting an ambush by them instead."

"We can just let them sort it out, and join up only when it's safe," I said.

"What if the celebrities have already been infested before they get on the plane?" suggested Sam. "Or are actually infested onboard the Concorde."

"I don't reckon so," replied Philip. "Have you noticed how the celebrities are all keep together until they reach the headquarters? On board the Concorde together, then again in a coach?"

"Well, seriously, guys, I do think this is too big an opportunity to waste," I said, catching Ferdie's eye.

Sam sighed. "This is going to very risky, you know that, guys?"

Ferdie grinned. Sam had obviously come around to the idea a lot quicker than he'd imagined.

"Absolutely," he said. "But I'm sure we could pull it off."

"This is coming from someone who completely ignores the strategic problems," muttered Philip.

"Well, we've got a day and a half to work out the details, and fly to New York, haven't we?" I said. I'd managed to persuade Sam to do some further research on the internet to find out exactly where we were, and how far away the airport that the Concorde was flying from was. Amazingly, it was only around a hundred miles from where we were, and I'd even had a look at an online route planner to find a main road we could follow from the air. We'd certainly been lucky so far, but by the look on his face, Philip was obviously worried how soon our luck would run out.

"Well, Maggie needs to a get a new insect morph, if we're even going to go ahead with this mission," Sam told us.

"What's wrong with her beetle morph?" asked Philip, frowning.

"I don't think it's fast, nor agile enough," she replied. "We've all got wasps, which are much faster and better fliers. If we're to stand any chance of getting on board that plane, Maggie will need something better than a beetle."

That's how I ended up standing barefoot inside an open dumpster.

"Oh, this is disgusting!" I cried, trying not to step in a pile of mouldy baked beans. Ferdie was laughing, standing well back to avoid the stench. Sam and Philip were a little more helpful, leaning over the greasy sides of the other bins and opening their lids too. The smell was horrendous. A foul mixture of mould, dirt, oil and filth. Even worse, the dumpsters belonged to a fast food restaurant, and were filled with old, greasy chips and rotting meat.

"A biologist would be fascinated by these mould growths," said Sam conversationally. "Look at all these cultures."

"I would really rather not!" I exclaimed. "Just let me try and catch a bug without falling headfirst into this rubbish."

Luckily, we had come to acquire flies, and there were hundreds of the things buzzing around. Sam, Philip and I were swiftly reaching out and trying to catch on in our hands, but it was proving very difficult.

"These ruddy flies!" Philip yelled. "They're too fast!"

"Flies can see movement practically before it happens," I said. "They have lightening-fast reactions. To them, we move like snails."

"Thanks for that, Maggie," said Philip. "Now I'm never going to catch one."

"Ferdie - why don't you get over here and give us a hand?" Sam called, slightly annoyed.

"Whilst standing in a rubbish bin? No thanks."

"But you're the only one of us with shoes on!"

"Yeah…but they're so tight that I find it difficult to climb in them," he said. "I wouldn't be able to get in."

"Yeah, whatever, Flawless," I said.

Suddenly, Sam cried out. "I've got one! At last!" She immediately started to acquire it to stop it buzzing around in her hand.

"Pass it here, before it wakes up," I said, holding out my hand. She tipped the fly - a big, black, hairy one - into my hand and I began to acquire it. I passed it to Philip, who already had a wasp morph like the others, but acquired the fly anyway.

"Ferdie, get over here and acquire this thing," he said, walking to him.

"Why? I've already got a wasp morph," he said.

"I don't care. I'm going to make you at least touch this thing. We've spent all this time trying to catch it, you can at least use it's DNA."

Ferdie rolled his eyes and acquired the fly, his top lip curling in disgust.

"Cool," said Sam. "I'm thinking maybe we should morph now whilst we're hidden. Get in the air. Walking around the streets might get us seen by Controllers."


	13. Chapter 12: Metropolis

_Sorry to any New Yorkers if my facts and descriptions are way out - I've not been to NYC or even the USA so have had to get all my information for details from research from the internet!_

Chapter 12

--I know we have spent much of the last few days flying,-- I said, --but I have to say that being a human is rubbish compared to being a bird.--

--I agree,-- said Ferdie. --I just feel pinned to the ground when I'm not flying. And only moving in two dimensions is so restricting.--

--Plus the view below us now is far more interesting than miles and miles of ocean, like before,-- put in Sam.

The four of us were in our long-distance transit morphs: geese for Sam, Philip and Ferdie, and swan for me. We soared about the land a few thousand meters up, enjoying the clear views of the ground below us, and the utter silence apart from the wind rushing past our ears. We were flying in anticipation, making our way towards New York City, following the highways and freeways below us, where we would spend a few hours fine tuning our plans and getting our act together before finding the airport. We were hoping that the plane used to transport the celebrities would be fairly easy to spot - partly because it was a Concorde and partly because the levels of security around it would probably be very high, assuming it was controlled by Yeerks.

There was a buzz of excitement in the air - and it was not just the build up to another mission, but to visiting New York. I felt like we were going on an exhilarating trip for the Christmas holidays. Plus, there was the feeling that we were one step closer to finding the human resistance - something we'd been working on since this whole thing had started, and what every single one of our actions had counted towards over the last two weeks. Philip kept out in front, giving us directions, although it seemed to me that we were just flying in one long straight line. The airport was a few miles east of northern Manhattan, in the north of Queens, and if we managed to find it in time, we were planning to go crow and explore the city from the air, flying alongside the skyscrapers like Spiderman in the movie of the same name. For that reason, I was planning to acquire a pigeon or a similar bird, since I was the only one without a 'common' bird morph. All I had was an eagle and a swan - both of which were highly noticeable, unlikely to be living in a city, and would probably attract unwanted attention from Controllers who would know to look out for swans, assuming they were us fugitives in morph.

--This is so exciting!-- I said childishly. --Are we nearly there? I've always wanted to visit New York!--

--I think we're probably about halfway there,-- said Philip, from the front of our little V formation. He kept swooping down towards the ground to get a look at road signs and to make sure we were still on track. Our bird morphs had great eyesight - not quite as good as our raptor morphs but still far better than human eyesight.

--New York is huge, you know that, right?-- Sam said. --It's not just a case of one second we're not in the city, and the next second we are. Not like that town we just came from. It's huge. Much bigger than London and far bigger than Leeds - it sprawls out for miles and miles and you can't tell what is part of it and what is not. Until we manage to find our way right into the centre, we probably won't have any idea of where we are.--

--It shouldn't be too hard to find the airport, though, will it?-- Ferdie asked. He was flying behind me and to my right. Sam was flying beside me, to my left. --All those runways and everything will be fairly easy to spot from the air.--

--Well, yes, but only when we get into that main area,-- Philip said.

--We managed to find Cardiff port, didn't we?--

--Yes, but that was in a country that was familiar to us. None of us have ever been to the States before, let alone one of the most major cities in the world.--

--Oh, Philip, stop being such a pessimist!-- Ferdie laughed. --You're always looking for things that will go wrong.--

--It's called being realistic, Flawless,-- Philip sighed. --What has your optimism bought us? Just crazy and far-fetched ideas as far as I can see.--

--Well, I think it's great for one of us to be so optimistic,-- Sam said. --If we were all constantly worried and let this whole situation get on top of us, I think we'd all either be at each other's throats or had given up by now.--

--See, Philip? A little optimism is good for peoples' spirits!--

Philip started to grunt something in response, but gave up, leaving us to fly on in silence, although I had the feeling that Sam and Ferdie were speaking privately to one another from time to time - particularly when Ferdie started laughing for no apparent reason.

Eventually, after a whole afternoons' flying and the customary two hour de- and remorph, we began to see signs that we were coming into the city. The countryside below had long since been replaced by an urban jungle of concrete - a metropolis of modern Western civilisation. Skyscrapers and vast office blocks took the place of trees, and mass transit lines and highways replaced rivers and streams. The stretch of water whose coast we had followed since setting off from Cove Bay began to filter off into a number of smaller channels, cutting through the state like blue ribbons laid across vast grey paving slabs. As Philip navigated his way into the city, I began to recognise many of the landmarks I realised I'd seen a thousand times in films pictures - sending a surge of relief and amazement through my body as I realised that he had managed to navigate us here almost effortlessly.

--Ok, everyone,-- Philip said after another half hour or so of flying, --there's the airport that the Concorde will be departing from. I suggest we descend now to get a better look at the layout and come up with the plan.--

The airport was spread below us, from air, it looked like a child's play set. We were still about five thousand feet up, and so although we could easily make out runways and terminal buildings, and just about make out individual planes, it was very difficult to tell which was the Concorde. Philip swept back his wings and soared towards the ground, the rest of us following. Ferdie, always the daredevil, was plummeting towards the ground as if he was in his flacon morph.

--Flawless - stop diving like that! Geese don't dive - they glide! It would look suspicious if anyone saw a goose diving like that!-- I called to him.

Ferdie ignored me and continues swooping towards the ground, a great grey and black missile. Eventually he pulled up and started flying in wide circles a few hundred feet below us, waiting for us to catch up.

--Ok, let's land on that terminal building over there and morph hawks,-- said Sam. --We'll work out our plan for getting on board the plane, then have a bit of a break. There's not much we can do anymore apart from wait for the celebrities to arrive.--

--Then, can we go sightseeing,-- I asked?

--Sure, Mag's, we'll go sightseeing,-- Sam laughed. --I want to see the Statue of Liberty!--


	14. Chapter 13: Preparation and Planning

_I'd like to thank Quillian for being such a loyal reader so far, andGryphinwyrm7 for theand the fact! I didn't realise that, but I have done a little more research on it and it should prove useful!_

Chapter 13

"I thought Concorde weren't even allowed to fly over land," I said. "I thought the supersonic boom they made when they went at speeds faster than sound was too disturbing."

"I guess that just proves the Yeerks have control. They're not going to care about something like that. They'll just infest the guys who make the rules and get permission," said Ferdie.

"Flawless, was that a brain cell I just heard working there? Or just another silly attempt at rationalising this suicide mission?" laughed Sam. Ferdie gave her a mock-sneer and grinned.

"You know, I'm sure she's interested me in me for my mind as well as my body," he laughed. Sam batted her eyes and gave him a playful punch. It was late afternoon, and the four of us were lounging around on the roof of one of the terminals, watching the planes taxi to the runway, take off, and land. It was pretty noisy, but as far as we could tell, it was safe. The Concorde we were interested in was parked in its own holding area near the main terminal, a gleaming white machine.

"Yes, well if we could perhaps get back on track?" said Philip, rolling his eyes and staring at the two of them as if they were children. "We need to find out at what time the Concorde is taking flight."

"We can do that tomorrow morning," said Ferdie. "It will show up on the live flight info."

"Yeah, but we'll have to get through customs to view that," Sam said. "That won't be easy."

"I don't think you need to go through customs to view the flight info," I said. "Whenever I've flown anywhere, they show the schedules pretty much as soon as you walk in through the main doors. You can also view them online - you don't even need to go to the airport."

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Ok then, I guess that makes it a bit easier. But how will we know which flight number is the Concorde one?"

"They are usually named after the airline," I said. You know, like British Airways flights become BA-Something. I guess this will be VI or VE then a load of numbers. And of course, it will be flying from here to Los Angeles International Airport, which is another piece of information shown next to the flight number. We should be able to work it out."

"Wouldn't the Yeerks want to keep the flight information secret, though?" asked Sam.

"I don't think it would bother," replied Philip. "This is a huge occasion for them. The launch of their new airline, and their partnership with The Sharing. They'll probably invite people to watch the first flight, and I'm sure they'll be inviting the press along."

"Of course," said Sam. "And I guess, if they are laying a trap for the resistance, they'll be expecting an attack - for which they're all prepared to win. They'll be wanting the resistance to know the flight details - so that they can come and attack it!"

"Rather ambitious, these Yeerks, aren't they," said Ferdie casually. "Setting up this huge trap for the resistance, and trying to infest a dozen or so celebrities? Talk about killing two birds with one stone!"

"Don't say that!" I said, wincing. "We're probably going to be in morph at sometime!"

"Actually, that reminds me," said Philip. "I read somewhere that in some airports they use hawks and falcons to keep pigeons and other birds away from the runways, so they don't get sucked into the planes' engines. Maybe they do that here."

"Maybe, but that just means we won't be able to morph crows," said Sam. "I don't suppose they encourage the hawks to go anywhere near the actual inside of the plane, do they?"

"Well, I was just saying," huffed Philip. "If we were to morph raptors, we wouldn't look suspicious."

"Well, that's a relief, Philip," I said, trying to resolve the peace between the two of them. "One less thing to worry about."

"I suggest we work out how we're going to get into the plane," said Sam, sighing. "I guess they'll have to load the luggage so maybe we could slip in as flies then."

"Probably our best bet," said Philip. "Go small, unnoticed. Find something that won't mind the cold for too long - there's no heating in the storage compartments."

"The flight is over two hours though," I mentioned. "We'll have to demorph at some point."

"We will - and we'll just have to remorph as soon as possible," replied Philip. "The pressure in the aircraft will be very low in the cargo area, especially at the heights that the Concorde travels. The plane is only pressurised in the cabin area."

"Will our flies be able to cope with those low pressures?" I asked.

"Insects are pretty hardwearing," Sam said. "Maybe not as good as cockroaches, but they should all be ok. And they don't need as much oxygen as humans, so the thin air shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"You hope," said Ferdie. "Once we find out they're not ok, it will be too late."

"Flawless, you're the one who wanted to do this!" snapped Philip. "So you'd better accept the risks involved and stop making wry comments."

"Ok, so that's agreed then?" asked Sam. "We go out as raptors early tomorrow morning, and watch for the luggage loading. As soon as possible, we find somewhere to morph flies and get aboard. When we're in flight, we stay as flies as much as possible, and only demorph when we need to, to avoid going over the two-hour limit. When we land, and the cargo compartment doors open, we fly out and get to raptors as soon as we can. We'll plan what happens then when we get to LA."

I breathed in sharply. "Wow. It all seems to simple where you say it like that."

"I can't believe we're going to be flies whilst on an actual Concorde!" said Ferdie. "I would love to be in the cabin. You can actually see the curvature of the Earth from the windows!"

"Flawless, this isn't some Tour America sightseeing trip," Philip snapped. "We're here to do a job - one, let me remind you, that you insisted we do - and there's a plan to stick to."

"Philip, I was just saying-"

"Guys, can we stop bickering, please," said Sam. "Look. There's not a huge amount we can do until tomorrow, and we're all tired and hungry. I think we should fly into the city and find something to eat and somewhere to sleep tonight."

"Cool," I said, trying to raise everyone's' spirits. "Let's visit Manhattan!"


	15. Chapter 14: The City That Never Sleeps

Chapter 14

New York City was just how I imagined it. The spectacle, the excitement, the rush of Manhattan, a pace of life on a level I'd never experienced! All around us, the lights, the sounds, the smells were almost too much to take in. It was just like I'd seen in all the movies, only now we were here, for real! Everywhere, flashing signs and billboards bombarded us with lights and colour, overloading our brains with the very essence of Western civilisation.

--How many yellow cabs can you count?-- asked Ferdie casually. --I think I got up to at last a hundred in the last few minutes, but I've lost count now.--

--Why are you counting cabs, Flawless?-- I asked, amazed. --We're in the middle of New York and you're just completely ignoring everything interesting!--

We were raptors, of course, two falcons, one hawk and a buzzard, soaring over the streets of Manhattan. From up here, we could make out the thousands of people walking up and down the streets, the countless yellow cabs, hundreds of sky-scraping buildings forming the never-ending sprawl of concrete jungle reaching out as far as we could see. I thought I'd known what urban life was when I visited London. London, I now realised, had nothing on this city.

--Philip, do you have any idea where we are?-- asked Sam.

--Not off hand,-- he replied. --I know were we are in relation to the airport, but until we find some more obvious landmarks, I'm in the same position as you.--

I had no idea were exactly we were, although my eagle eyes could easily make out the street names (along with every other tiny detail that no human eye would ever see) these meant nothing to me as neither human nor bird. I could make out some bridges to the east, crossing the body of water between Manhattan and Brooklyn but I had no idea which road or bridge was which.

--I think that long diagonal street is Broadway,-- said Sam. She was flying up the highest of the four of us, closely followed by Ferdie, half taken in by this amazing new world, half looking out for somewhere to eat and sleep. --I can't make out any other landmarks though, everything all looks like one big jumble of buildings and roads from up here.--

--Look for Tiffany's,-- I advised, trying not to giggle. --You always know where you are, with Tiffany's. Nothing can go wrong there.--

--Always thinking about diamonds, you girls,-- grinned Ferdie, completely missing the quote. --Hope you're not looking for a rock on your finger at your age?--

There was a moment's paused, followed by Philip scoffing and Sam giggling.

--I have the distinct impression you to are talking privately to one another,-- Philip said to Sam and Ferdie.

--Yeah - this is NYC - not Paris!-- I laughed. --Commercial lights - not candlelight! And street dance - not ballroom dancing!--

--I can ballroom dance,-- said Ferdie, flapping up higher towards Sam.

There was another pause, followed by Sam bursting out laughing again.

--Good grief,-- sighed Philip. --If you two lovebirds aren't going to concentrate, I'm going to take charge.--

--You could at least share us in your conversation,-- I grumbled. -Actually, saying that, I think I'd rather not listen to a word they're saying to each other.--

--I agree with you on that one, Maggie,-- said Philip. --I guess we should try and find some money and get something to eat, since those two are rather preoccupied.

--Aye aye on that on,-- I replied, turning my laser-sharp eyes away from Sam and Ferdie and down towards the streets below us. Pretty soon, I had fixed locations on a number of coins and notes, and I guessed Philip had too. Hopefully they'd buy us a few more burgers to get us through the evening. I really fancied a proper meal though. I was getting bored of fast food - not to mention the effect it was having on my body. I wondered what happened to food when we morphed. We'd learned from crossing the Atlantic that we'd only felt hungry as humans and not whilst we were in morph. If we'd morphed a new animal, we'd be fine for the duration of that morph, but we'd be hungry when we'd demorphed. Crossing the ocean, we'd not been able to eat as humans, so demorphs and remorphs were quick and we'd stayed as animals as much as we could. But hunger led to tiredness, and tiredness follows you around whichever body you're in.

--Ok guys,-- said Philip. --Are we going to demorph now, or what?--

--Sure,-- said Sam. --That alley down below us looks pretty secure. There aren't any windows overlooking it or anything -we should be ok. We'll demorph, get the cash we've spotted, go buy some food.--

--Me and Philip spotted, more like,-- I muttered. --I seem to remember you and Flawless only had eyes for each other.--

Neither of them replied though, so I guess I must have thought-spoken too quietly or they'd been too far away, for them to hear me. I pulled back my wings and soared downwards, slipping into the eagles' mind for a minute or so in order to let it descend through the air and land neatly in the alleyway. I've never been very good at landing - zooming towards the ground at ten miles an hour or more is pretty daunting, and I've always made a mess of it when I've controlled the morph myself. So now I always let the eagle take over if I'm not feeling too confident.

--Again, my I compliment my lady on her excellent choice of location,-- said Ferdie as he landed with a crash behind a steel rubbish bin. --It's not everyday we get to explore the more glamorous side of New York City.--

--You love it really,-- said Sam, beginning her demorph. --Anywhere near me, you love.--

Ferdie laughed and began the changes back to human. I focussed on my own body and started my own transformation. The first thing to change was the feathers. This was pretty much the usually order in which my bird demorphs went, although I'd grown legs first or demorphed my head first at times. The feathers appeared to melt and flow together like chocolate left out in the sun. They became lighter and creamy coloured, forming my own human flesh and skin, until only a light pattern of feathers was left on my skin like a tattoo. Soon, the tattoo disappeared into my skin, like ink washed away under a tap. Whilst my red morphing outfit reappeared, my head and face began to change. My sharp golden eyes turned green and soft, my vision blurring. The powerful hooked beak softened and became my own nose and mouth. Ears sprung out at the side of my face and long bushy hair sprouted from my head. Hair that was even more bushy and messy than usually as it hadn't been brushed for the last week or so. I attempting to run a newly-forming hand through it, trying to brush out some of the tangles. Eventually, my feet and legs became longer and thicker, the knees changing direction, the large black talons becoming useless human toenails. I looked round at the others. Philip was already fully human, standing in the dirt in his blue and red cycling gear. Ferdie was attempting to control his morph by keeping his wings until the last second, but his hands were already appearing at the end of them and it just looked silly. Sam was almost entirely human; there was just a light dusting of feathers on her cheeks reminding us that a few minutes ago she'd been a lanner falcon.

"Lets get out of this dump and grab that money," she said, holding her nose. "I think next time, Flawless you _should _pick the demorphing spot. This place really is gross."


	16. Chapter 15: A Quick Call

Chapter 15

"Well, I guess we don't look too out of place in our morphing outfits alongside these New Yorkers," I said gazing around at the vast variety of clothing worn by the more individual members of the city. "Is that jacket actually supposed to be clothing? I think it has a live fish in the pocket."

"I can't if this is supposed to be fancy dress or not," laughed Ferdie.

"I think you look the most out of place, Flawless," I said. "The can't be anyone else wearing riding breeches for about fifty miles."

The four of us were exploring the streets of New York City, each chewing on some pizza we'd bought using the small change we'd found. The pizza was good. Well, it was a change from burgers anyway.

"Well, as I see it, you've got two types of people. The suits, and the streets. Half the guys are career goers, power walking and cab-calling around Manhattan, and I guess the other half are…not," said Sam.

"Asha would have loved it here," Ferdie said, causing Sam to go silent. "All these chavs. All these townies. You can even hear the beat of the city thumping out that rap music."

"I'm sure she would have liked it," said Sam. "Unfortunately, we'll never know."

"Maybe she wasn't killed," he continued. "Maybe she was only stunned-"

"Ferdie," snapped Philip, cutting him off. "That's enough. I don't think we've all learned to cope with it yet, and you're going to make things worse."

Ferdie shut up, leaving the rest of us to reminisce our fifth team member. One I'd hardly met, yet had saved all of our lives.

"Do you know," said Ferdie, forgetting his place, "I think we should use our powers for slightly more personal reasons. Just this once."

"What?" said Sam. "Flawless, these abilities weren't given to us so that you could go and sneak into the movies or whatever."

"I wasn't talking about a film," he replied. "I think we should get a hotel room for the night."

"Yeah? How are we going to do that? I don't think we can quite afford a hotel room."

"We don't need to afford one," he said, his eyes twinkling. "We can just morph and grab a room by flying in through the window."

"Ferdie…I don't know where you get your ideas from," sighed Philip. "How many things can you spot that are wrong with that plan? One: can you see a hotel around here with open windows? Two: How do you know how to find a room that's empty? And three: if everything actually did go to plan, what if a maid walks in or whatever, and we get caught!"

"And three problems that I can provide answers for," Ferdie grinned. "One: we've already walked past a dozen or so hotels in the last few minutes - many of which have open windows! Two: we morph hawks and check that they're empty. Three: got any loose change?"

"Any money?" Sam opened her hand, counting the last of our change. "Just under a dollar. Why?"

"Give me that quarter," he said. Sam tossed him the coin, looking at him suspiciously. "What are you going to do?"

Ferdie grinned at her again and walked over to a telephone box. We followed him in, and Sam stood next to him, a puzzled look on her face. He opened the directory and flicked to 'hotels', running his finger down the page until he had located a phone number.

"I saw a Hilton back there with loads of open windows," he said. "I'm just getting the number for them now."

He placed the receiver to his ear, dropped some coins in the slot, punched in the number and motioned for us to be quiet. I heard the click that the call had connected, followed by the tinny voice of the answerer.

"Hi," Ferdie said after a moment. "Yeah, I'd like to book a room for tomorrow please. Double. Yeah, en-suite. Um…probably around midday I should think." Another pause. "Yep, sure, it's Mister Stephan Carlson. Great. Thanks very much. Oh - sorry, one more thing. Is it possible to get the room number now? Only I have colleagues staying in your hotel and I'd like to be able to inform them of my room number in advance, if that's ok. Ah, great, thanks. Five-four-oh. Wonderful. Bye then."

Ferdie placed the receiver down, a triumphant look on his face.

"What, exactly, was that about?" asked Sam.

"We've got a room," he said. Five hundred and forty at the Hilton across the road."

"Ferdie - how are you going to pay for it? And you've booked it for tomorrow? We don't want a room tomorrow. And what was all that stuff about Mister Steven Carlson?" said Philip.

"We're not going to pay, you muppet," Ferdie replied. "The room is empty now - the guys said it had just been cleaned. They're not going to place any more bookings on it between now and then, are they? We're just going to locate that room, fly in, make ourselves comfortable for the night, and clear off early tomorrow morning. If we're feeling kind, we can give them another ring and cancel Mister C's booking. "

I shook my head in slight disbelief. "You really think this will work?" I asked incredulously. "We won't get caught?"

"Why should we? There's probably over a thousand rooms in that hotel, and it's already been cleaned once today. Why stop by to check on it between now and tomorrow? And if some cleaner does walk in, we'll just make them assume she's made a mistake, and get out of there."

"How are we going to find the right room?" I asked. "And what if the window is shut?"

"Room five hundred and forty. That's probably the fifth floor. And in all the hotels I've stayed in, the room number is printed on the welcome pack on the dressing table. If we go bird, we should be able to see which is our room."

"What if the window is shut? How are we supposed to get in then?" asked Sam.

"We can morph flies and go in through the front door," Ferdie replied. "Or go in through another open window, buzz out into the corridor, then crawl under the door."

"What if the doors are, like, really close to the floor and we can't squeeze underneath? I don't think this is going to work, Ferdie."

"Look, if we can't get it, then it doesn't really matter, does it? We've not lost anything. We've not given them any money. We'll just have to sleep outside." He gave Sam the fish eye. "Again. Sleeping rough. In the cold. And it looks like it might rain tonight so-"

"Ok!" said Sam. "I get the picture! We'll give it a go. But only because you've already made the call."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Ferdie. "I can't wait to have a shower."


	17. Chapter 16: A Hot Shower

Chapter 16

"Ahhh, this is certainly more like it," said Ferdie, flopping down onto the bed. "I never thought I'd be so glad to feel a proper blanket ever again."

"I'm all the central heating," I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Aye - and the complete absence of crawling organisms."

We had managed to sneak into the hotel room at last, and were now enjoying the luxuries of a pretty decent executive room. We'd morphed raptors and located the correct room - which was empty. The door was also wedged open, something I guess they do with rooms that are unoccupied. We demorphed and tried out our new fly morphs, flying in through an open window of an unoccupied room nearby, buzzing out into the corridor and into our room. Now, we were making the most of our comfort time. Who knew how long we would have to wait before getting another proper bed like this? We had a television, which Sam was watching, flicking through the hundreds of American channels looking for news of the Yeerk enterprise. We had a private en-suite with a power-shower, separate bath and complementary shampoo. We also had a proper bed. Only one bed though, a double - and I could guess now which two of us would be nabbing that later on. Luckily there was also a three-seat sofa and extra blankets that one of us could use in the bath as a forth bed.

"I'm going to have a shower," said Ferdie, grabbing one of the big, fluffy towels that were folded neatly in the wardrobe.

"Oh, talk about the perfect gentleman!" laughed Sam sarcastically. "Mr I-want-the-first-shower?"

"Yeah, Flawless," I said, getting to my feet. "Who says you can go in first?"

"My idea, getting us this room," he said chirpily. "Plus, you girls always take hours in the shower. Guys can get in and get out in a couple of minutes." He grinned at Sam and I and pranced into the bathroom. A few moments later, we heard the sound of the shower.

"Fine!" I called. "Just don't use all the shampoo!"

Ferdie, of course, spent about half an hour in the shower. He emerged, flushed red and hair dripping wet, to the three of us curled up on the bed watching Friends on the telly. He was wearing his morphing outfit, minus the boots, which lay in a small puddle of mud on the bathroom floor.

"Why are you watching this?" he asked. "Isn't there anything decent on?"

"I like Friends," I said. "Besides, we're getting a good feel for New York life, watching this. Are you done in the shower now?"

"Yep," he said, springing on the bed and plonking himself down next to Sam. "What a fantastic shower that was. So nice and warm. Better than the stone cold rivers were usually get."

"At last," I said. "Anyone mind if I go next? I promise I won't spend as long in there as Flawless did!"

"That's fine with me," said Philip.

"Me too," said Sam. "I'll go last."

"What, so you get the most amount of time?" Ferdie asked, smirking.

"Something like that," she grinned, batting her eyes at him.

"Maybe we should have grabbed another room for you two," I said rolling my eyes and entering the bathroom. I peeled off my torn and filthy leotard and stepped into the shower, turning the hot water up to maximum. Mmm, bliss. After almost two weeks of living, sleeping and eating outside, often in the middle of nowhere, this was fabulous. It reminded me of the times I'd gone out to Africa with my parents on one of their aid missions. We'd spent months out in the desert, in a village with no proper toilets, no showers, no proper beds. We'd managed to get used to it, and even quite enjoyed it at times, but there was nothing like getting back to Britain and having a nice, hot bath and sleeping in a soft bed. I wondered if I'd ever live a life like that again. I'd thought a lot about my family and my home. I hadn't had any contact with them since the abduction, and dreaded to think how they were coping with my disappearance. Of course, I had long since accepted the fact that none of us had any choice in the matter. We were in a situation no other human being could possible imagine, on the run from the Yeerks and in danger of being killed or infested at any time. We'd had quite a bit on our minds to worry about what was going on back home. And for all we knew, our families had been made Controllers and were hunting for us along with the rest of the Visser Five's army.

I finished washing my hair and stepped reluctantly out of the shower, drying myself off in one of the thick white towels and putting my morphing outfit back on. I really needed a new leotard, I decided. I wondered if I would be able to persuade Ferdie to 'borrow' me another one. I opened the door and let Philip into the shower.

"That was so nice," I said. "Nothing like a good, hot shower after two weeks in the field."

"You should try being in the army," Philip called from the bathroom. "I used to look forward to days when we could actually have a proper wash and a night under a roof."

"I think we are in our own army," said Ferdie. "Probably been in more fights than a lot of soldiers out there."

That night, we each got the best night's sleep we'd had in a long time. Philip attempted to be blasé about the whole situation, saying that he really didn't need warm beds and showers to live, but we all knew he was secretly loving Ferdie's plan. Sam and Ferdie had hogged the bed, and were now curled up under the covers, sheepishly lying in each others' arms. Philip had taken a couple of pillows and some blankets and was asleep in the bath. As for me, I slept a cosy, dreamless sleep on the sofa. It was great not to have to wake up in the middle of the night and morph wolf to keep a look out. It was even better to be able to sleep on a soft sofa rather than the hard, and often wet, ground. Best of all, there were no horrible insects crawling all over me.

The four of us had slept through the night, and woken at around seven in the morning to the sunlight coming in through the window. Time to leave this haven, and set out once again, I thought wearily, as I became aware of Sam throwing the blankets off her and Ferdie and getting to her feet. Ferdie snatched the blankets back and curled up in a tight ball, refusing to get up.

"Come on, Flawless," yawned Sam. "We've got a Concorde to catch." She walked over to the window and opened it wide, ready for us to morph birds and fly out.

"I'm staying here!" Ferdie muttered from somewhere under the covers.

"The cleaners might walk in," I said, getting to my feet. "They think they've got Steven Carlson arriving in a few hours." I walked up to Ferdie and yanked the covers off him, prodding him in the shoulder.

"Come on!" I barked. "Up! Get up!"

Ferdie glared at me and got to his feet. "I hate mornings," he said.

"Even after a night in the same bed as Sam?"

Sam blushed and turned away. Ferdie smirked. "Alright!" he said, throwing a pillow at me. "I'm up!"

"Well, we've not got any more reason to stick around here," said Sam. "Lets go raptor as quickly as possible and make our way back to the airport. We need to get on that Concorde before it leaves."

We morphed to our bird of prey morphs, hopped out onto the windowsill, and flapped out into the early New York air, already bustling with the atmosphere of the rush hour, leaving our warm hotel room behind us.


	18. Chapter 17: The Rumpus

Chapter 17

--Ok guys, there's our baby,-- said Sam. It was an hour or so later, and we were raptors, circling a few thousand meters above the airport just outside of Manhattan, our brilliant hawk vision picking up the slightest details below us. Philip had told us that we probably wouldn't look too out of place - apparently some airports used hawks to keep other birds off the runway. It was a hot day, and the concrete below was creating some nice thermals - pillars of warm air you can just glide up in the air, barely flapping your wings. However, we needed to get a bit closer to the ground, so we swooped down a little lower to get a better look at the Concorde. The huge, streamlined machine was being held at the back of one of the smaller terminals, alongside a group of other, smaller aeroplanes. Most of these other planes did not possess logos, and I assumed they were private jets, and that this terminal catered for wealthy clients. The Concorde was gleaming white with an enormous 'Visser Enterprises' logo scrawled in silver print down the side of the plane. The boarding corridor was hooked up from the first story of the terminal to the planes' left-hand side, enabling the passengers to board the plane without having to step foot on the runway. There was a bustle of activity with baggage handlers efficiently loading the passengers' bags. Even from this height, I could tell that most of the bags were designer names, and expensive looking.

--I guess that's where we have to board,-- I said. --We should be ok going as flies, right?--

--Should be fine,-- said Sam. --I expect those guys down there are so stressed out - baggage handlers usually are! - that the last thing they'll be worrying about is a few insects getting aboard.--

--What if any of them are Controllers, looking out for animals and insects?--

--Then they'd need good timing and even better eyesight,-- she replied. --We'll fly over the top of the plane, then enter the cargo compartment from the top of the hatch, over their heads, rather than just flying past them into the plane.--

--Maybe we should find out what time this thing leaves,-- said Philip. --I expect the timings will be displayed on television screens inside the terminal, like normal.--

--We can't go as human though,-- said Sam. --There might be Yeerks who would recognise us.--

--Well, we might not be able to get inside as hawks,-- Philip said. --And birds would attract attention indoors.--

--What morphs do we have that have good eyesight and are small and unnoticeable?-- I asked.

--I have a mouse and a ferret morph,-- said Ferdie. --I think the ferret has better eyesight, and anyway, loads of rich people carry ferrets on holiday with them. If I do get seen, people might just think I'm someone's escaped pet. A mouse might be harder to spot, but someone might start screaming at me.--

--That might work, actually,-- said Sam. --Good thinking.-- She flapped off in the direction of the entrance to the terminal, and the rest of us followed her.

--Ok, Ferdie, there's a bit of a problem, but not one that can't be solved,-- Sam said. --It's all roads and car parks out here. There's very little cover for you to demorph on the ground without being seen. I think what you're going to have to do is morph to ferret on the roof, and one of us will have to carry you down as raptors.--

--That won't look too weird, then,-- I said. --A hawk carrying a ferret over a car park.--

--Better than being seen morphing,-- she replied. --Which one of us has the strongest bird morph?--

--That would probably be me,-- I said. --White tailed eagles are one of the largest birds around. They easily hunt prey bigger than ferrets, so it should be no problem to carry Ferdie.--

Sam circled downwards towards the terminal building, landing on the roof. Ferdie went next, then me, then Philip. It would have looked odd to see four birds of prey all flying together.

--Right then,-- said Sam. --Ferdie, you're going to morph ferret and find out what time the plane departs. We'll wait up here and Maggie will pick you up and bring you back up with the rest of us once you know the time. We'll stay up here until it's time to leave, then fly nearer to the plane. Morph flies, and board the plane. Everyone ok with that?--

--How are we going to find the plane when we're flies?-- Philip asked. --Flies don't have particularly good eyesight.--

--We'll just have to morph with our bodies facing in the right direction and estimate how far we need to go. Actually,-- she paused, --one of us can morph back to hawk and guide the others which way to go. That person will have to find their own way to the plane, but it will be better than all four of us getting lost.--

--Alright, then,-- said Philip. --Ferdie, are you ready to demorph?--

--Already on it,-- he replied. His little falcon body was growing rapidly. His wings narrowed and became arms, his legs grew and formed human legs and feet. Shaggy strawberry-blond hair sprouted from his head. His piercing black and golden eyes became glittery green, his hooked beak softened and became his own nose and mouth. Last to disappear wear his feathers, so for a moment he looked like a person wearing a feathery Halloween costume. Eventually, the feathers melted away and were replaced by his tanned skin and morphing outfit.

"I think that was one of my fastest morphs yet," he said. "Nearly catching up with you, Philip. You should time me next time. We would have a race."

--I think we've got more pressing matters to attend to, Flawless,-- replied Philip haughtily. --Come on, morph to ferret.--

Ferdie went still for a moment as he concentrated on the image of the ferret. "This is only the second time I've done this morph," he said, as thick, sandy coloured fur covered his body. "It's always good fun though. It loves to play."

"We're not here to play, Flawless," scolded Philip.

Ferdie began to shrink. He was quite tall to begin with, especially compared to me as I'm rather short, but in a matter of seconds he was smaller than a shoe. His body was stretching out, his spine elongating to form the supple curve of the ferret's spine. A fluffy tail popped out from his behind. His face bulged outwards, his eyes became black and beady, and long whiskers grew from his face. Suddenly, he started running around and around in circles, before looking up at me and darting across the roof in a panic.

--Oh, god, he's lost control of his morph!-- I said. --Ferdie! Ferdie - get back here!--

--Typical,-- sighed Philip. --This has got to be the third time he's gone off like that.--

--It's us, Flawless!-- called Sam. --You've lost control of your morph. You need to concentrate. Picture yourself in your head. Think about who you are, and what you've got to do.--

Eventually, Ferdie the ferret stopped running. He sat still for a second, sniffing the air with his little nose, then turned around sheepishly and scampered back to us.

--Sorry guys!-- he laughed. --But you'd be terrified too if you were eight inches long and surrounded by three huge birds.--

--Alright,-- said Sam. --Well, I guess we'd better get on with this. Maggie, you ready to go? Just pick him up- --

--Gently!-- interrupted Ferdie.

--Ok, yeah, just pick him up gently in your talons, swoop down to the ground, let him go and get back up here as soon as you can. Try to land somewhere where there aren't too many people around - you're an eagle and eagles often attract attention.--

--Sure then,-- I replied. --Come on, Ferdie. Try not to wriggle too much, I don't want to drop you!--

Ferdie scampered over to me and I gently picked him up in my talons. I flapped my wings labouriously, flew down towards the ground, and dropped him swiftly on the pavement. I joined the others back up on the roof, and waited for Ferdie's thought-speak.

After a few minutes, my acute eagle ears suddenly picked up a loud scream, followed by Ferdie' voice.

--Er - guys!-- he called. --A little help!--

--What now!-- cried Sam. --Ferdie, what's going on?--

--Some stupid woman's chasing me!-- he cried. --And now a load of other people have joined in!--

--Good grief, Flawless,-- said Sam, flapping into the air and making her way over to the entrance of the terminal for a better look. --Can't you manage to get anything to go to plan?--

--It's not my fault she hates rodents!-- he cried.

--Well - stop running around her legs like that!-- Sam called. --You're getting everyone's attention!--

--Oh, god,-- I laughed. --I've got to see this. I powered up my wings and soared up into the air, flapping in Sam's direction, but higher and further out than her so as not to look too suspicious. Philip was apparently refusing to get involved in such silliness, and sat as he was own the roof, grooming his feathers.

I soon caught sight of Ferdie. He was trying to make his way to the main entrance, but a fat, middle aged woman was attempting to whack him with her crocodile-skin handbag. Ferdie was running in circles round and round her legs, trying to avoid the bag. Several onlookers were standing watching - some looking amused, others trying to catch him themselves. A couple of kids in matching designer clothes were laughing hysterically, shrieking at Ferdie and throwing peppermints at him. It was a hilarious sight.

--Flawless,-- Sam giggled. --I don't think you've got any Controllers among you! Just run straight towards the entrance, and Maggie will pick you up from there.--

Ferdie escaped the rumpus and darted out into the car park. I swooped down from the sky and gathered him up in my talons, flapping madly back to our hiding place on the roof. Below me, I could hear the cries of the little kids - they'd obviously assumed I'd caught Ferdie to eat for lunch.

--What a kafuffle!-- I laughed, dropping Ferdie back down where he started to demorph. --Did you managed to get the departure time?--

--Yeah, before that old bag started chasing me,-- he breathed. --Leaves at ten o clock. We've got about an hour and a half before it sets off.--

--Well done, Flawless,-- smiled Sam. --At least that's over! Right, well, I think we should get a bit nearer to the plane, and wait there for a while. When they open the cargo compartment and load the luggage, we morph flies and hop aboard.--


	19. Chapter 18: A Little Package For Madonna

Chapter 18

We waited on the roof for about an hour as the baggage handlers began to load the celebrity's luggage. As birds of prey, we could make out the label on every single item. It was fairly obvious that the passengers were rich and famous - the pile of suitcases and holdalls was practically an advertisement for every designer brand known to man.

--That lime green case is cool,-- I said. --I wonder who owns that?--

--I'm wondering which of those belongs to Madonna,-- Ferdie said. --I'd love to know what she carries around with her on her swanky jet sets.--

--You don't even know for sure if Madonna is on board,-- Philip pointed out. --It was just a rumour in a tabloid newspaper.--

--Got to be some famous faces on board though, right?-- he chirped. --Who else to infest but influential pop stars? Get every music follower on earth wanting to join The Sharing that way. I'm sure the Yeerks know their stuff.--

--The passengers are boarding,-- said Sam suddenly. --I can just about see a couple of people behind the windows. Can't tell who they are yet though. There is too much reflection from the sunlight on the glass.--

I peered in through the tiny windows of the Concorde. To my eyes, however, the reflection wasn't a problem. White tailed eagles eat a lot of fish, so I guess their eyes are specially adapted to see through the reflections on the surface of water. Glass, I suppose, was no problem for them.

--Oh my god!-- I cried , straining my eyes and peering through the glass. --It's Elton John! It's got to be!--

--Elton John?-- said Philip sceptically. --Are you sure?--

--I think so!-- I said. --I can't see that well, but it looks like it might be him. He's wearing those glasses he always has on, and is being served champagne.--

--Excellent,-- gushed Ferdie. --Travelling in the same plane as Elton John!--

--That's not good, Flawless,-- said Philip. --If they've got Elton John, who else to they have? Tony Blair? George W Bush?--

--Maybe it's a good thing if they infested Blair,-- I said. --It might stop him from acting as Bush's lapdog.--

--I can't stand either of them,-- said Philip, --but it would be a huge blow to mankind if they became Controllers. Two of the most powerful positions of Earth, ruled by the Yeerks?--

--That wouldn't be a good thing,-- Sam said sombrely. --There'd be very little hope for Earth then.--

--Are we going to get on this thing, or not?-- asked Ferdie, who had started fidgeting at the talk of politics. He was ruffling his wings noisily, eager to get moving.

--Yeah, we'd better demorph,-- Sam agreed. --I'll stay as falcon until you guys are flies though. Then I'll be able to guide you to the plane.--

--I think perhaps I should be the guide,-- Philip insisted. --I have a better sense of direction to find my way by myself.--

Sam cocked her head at him for a second, apparently a little annoyed at being questioned.

--Ok, sure,-- she said eventually. --You tell us the way. Everyone else: flies.--

I pictured my human body in my mind and swiftly demorphed. In a few minutes, Sam, Ferdie and I were three humans, not looking more out of place on the roof terminal in our leotards. I made the most of the adrenaline rush that morphing gives you, and went fly.

"This has got to be the worst looking morph we've done yet," said Ferdie, as sharp black hairs began to grow all over his body. "I know we did it last night, but it was dark then!" He stared at me for a second. I could feel my eyeballs popping out of my head, forming the huge compound eyes of the fly. "That is not something I enjoyed watching," he said matter-of-factly.

"You don't look much better yourself," I replied. I could see he was attempting to control his morph - I was too, without much success - but it still looked like some kind of hideous mutation.

"How come you get to look like a fairy?" Ferdie moaned at Sam, as silky gossamer wings popped out of her back. "You don't even know how to control morphing."

"Guess it's just luck of the draw," she smiled at him. "Morphing meant to be random, right?"

I concentrated harder on the image of the fly, forcing the morph to speed up and be over with as soon as possible. I began to shrink rapidly. My arms and legs became multi-jointed, my fingers and toes melting together and forming the ugly sticky pads at the ends of my legs. My facial features melted away, reforming the hideous but powerful mandibles of the fly. My human eyesight went dull, but was soon replaced by the dazzling compound vision of the fly. It was similar to the vision of my old beetle morph, but so much better at detecting movement! I could see all the way around me, in every direction. I watched as my own wings grew out of my back. I saw Ferdie and Sam complete the last of their changes. And I saw a third pair of legs suddenly pop out of my chest! I could feel them waving around autonomously, as my fly brain began to surface. I was fully fly.

--Whoa!-- I heard Ferdie exclaim. --Talk about the worst culinary tastes ever! This fly has a fetish for anything a month old and found at the bottom of a dust bin!--

I knew exactly what he meant. The fly brain adored anything that humans would find disgusting. Bird droppings, litter, even the smell of the dog dirt on the bottom of someone else's' shoe was fascinating to my fly brain! It took every ounce of brain power to keep the fly under control.

--Guys, I think I have a better idea than trying to guide you to the plane,-- said Philip suddenly. --Back in a second.--

--What are you doing?-- asked Sam.

--Don't tell Ferdie - he'll much never let me live this down - but I'm going to drop a little package on one of the passenger's suitcases.-- he told Sam and I privately.

--What?-- Sam laughed disbelievingly. --You're going to poo on Madonna's bag!--

--It will help you find your way more easily,-- he said. --Just follow the sweet smell of bird poo. Sweet to your fly noses, that is,-- he added hastily.

In a moment or so, I suddenly sensed a new smell. My fly brain was fascinated by it. It loved this new smell. I, however, knew what it was, and was repulsed by it.

--Ferdie,-- called Philip. --When I say, follow your fly nose.--

--What?-- he said. --What are you doing?--

--He'll tell you when you're older,-- Sam grinned. --For now, just get ready to follow whatever your fly thinks smells newest, freshest and most yummy.--

--I can tell your own fly brain influenced that last sentence, Sam,-- I said, smirking.

I felt a sudden movement beside me - Ferdie, wanting to set off.

--Don't go just yet!-- ordered Philip. --You need to wait until that bag is loaded!-- he paused. --Ok. Go! Go now!--

We released the control of our fly minds, and zoomed off towards the poo-covered suitcase. My aviation abilities were marvellous. Much better than a beetles, and totally different from a swan or eagles'. I was like a rocket! I could zoom forwards at what seemed like a million miles an hour! I could zoom backwards, sideways, even upside down!

--Yaah hah!-- I cried, enjoying the rush.

I could only see about a meter in front of me, but I could soon sense when we were inside the cargo area. I buzzed up to the ceiling and came to a rest in a small grove where the sheets of metal met. Ferdie and Sam zoomed up to meet me.

--Well done, guys,- said Philip. --Stay there, I'm going to follow you in.--

A few minutes later, a forth fly joined us up on the ceiling.

--I thought I was leader,-- muttered Sam. --I'm the one who gets to say 'well done'.--

--Good effort, people,-- Philip said. If he were human, I was sure he would be smirking at Sam.

--Yes, good effort,-- Sam agreed hastily. --Right then. This is it, guys! We're on our way to California!--


	20. Chapter 19: The Silver Beast

Chapter 19

After about twenty minutes of nervous waiting and trying to avoid being seen, the cargo doors suddenly slammed shut and we were plunged into total darkness.

--There's no turning back now, guys,-- said Sam. --Ferdie, I hope to God this was a good idea.--

--We'll be fine, Sam!-- he said chirpily. He was in a very good mood, like a little kid about to set off on a long and exciting holiday. --In a couple of hours, our journey will have come to an end. We'll meet the resistance!--

--Yes, and then a whole new battle will begin,-- said Philip impatiently.

--Another battle against the Yeerks, Philip. Another blow for them, another step for mankind? That's something to look forward to, surely?--

--I agree,-- I said. --We can do so much for our fellow humans. Fighting alongside the resistance? After what I've seen and done, I'm all ready for it.--

--Well, we've got to get through this first,-- said Sam.

Soon, our fly bodies felt a violent rumbling, followed by vibrations running through our bodies. The engines were powering up to maximum, and we were taxiing towards the runway.

--God, I wish I was by a window,-- said Ferdie. --A journey in a Concorde and I'm a fly! And to think we're just a few feet from a load of famous people!--

--Famous people who are probably going to be made into Controllers,-- Philip said darkly.

--Not if we can help them.--

--Flawless, this is only a hitching-a-lift mission. Not a rescue mission. We're not doing anything more than flying to California and working out where the Yeerk headquarters are, then find the resistance. No battles if we can help it. Four of us can't free a load of potential hosts.--

The vibrations died down for a few minutes, as the plane reached the start of the runway, pausing as the pilot received his clearance instructions. Suddenly, we were hurtling forwards at over a hundred miles an hour, and gaining speed quickly. Then, the vibrations became less severe as the Concorde left the ground and took off.

--We're in the air, guys,-- said Sam unnecessarily. Being in the bodies of flies, it was a very different feeling than being a human in an aeroplane. Normally, as a human, you suddenly feel a lot heavier, like you're glued to your seat, as the nose of the plane points towards the sky and gains altitude so quickly. The times I've flown in an aeroplane, my ears have always popped due to the changes in atmospheric pressure. But as flies, we felt none of that. We just stayed in our little spots on the ceiling of the cargo compartment, our fly bodies not complicated enough to be effected by the changes.

--I think we'd better to a quick demorph now,-- said Philip, --before the air pressure becomes too low for our human bodies to handle easily. The flight is over two hours, so we'll have to do another demorph later, but better to do one at the highest altitude than two.--

--Isn't the place pressurised?-- I asked.

--The passenger compartment will be. This part might be, but not to such an extent. If you get to human and find your ears popping, just swallow, and remorph as quickly as possible.--

We demorphed, glad that it was too dark for our eyes to make out the horrible changes that we were happening to our bodies. But there was no escape from the weird feelings you get from morphing. It doesn't hurt, but it feels like it should. Like when you go for a local operation and the doctors give you drugs to numb the pain. Morphing was like that.

--Ow!-- exclaimed Ferdie. Ok, obviously sometimes morphing does lead to pain.

--What?-- asked Sam.

--I just lost my grip on the ceiling!-- he cried. --Fell on a load of bags!--

--You muppet, Flawless,-- said Philip. --Did it not occur to you to get upright first?--

Unfortunately, this had not occurred to me either. My sticky pads at the end of my fly legs suddenly turned into smooth human palms, and I fell down to the floor with a bump.

--Obviously it didn't occur to Mags, either,-- laughed Sam.

We quickly completed our demorphs, and huddled together for a few minutes in the little compartment, getting our breaths back. Ferdie made a fool out of himself again by trying to stand up and banging his head on the ceiling. It was obviously a lot lower that we'd imagined it to be - it had seemed like a vast cavern when we were flies.

"Muppet," muttered Philip again.

"You're lucky I can't see where you are, Philip, or I'd throw a bag at you,-- Ferdie replied.

"Just as well then," said his brother, satisfied that he had won this argument.

"We should remorph," said Sam. "It's getting cold in here and my ears are popping."

"Not very much space, either," I said, picturing the fly in my head again, and feeling the changes begin. I concentrated on making myself smaller first, and soon found the limited space was becoming as large as a football field.

The journey took just over two and half hours in total. The Concorde would land in LA, technically, at the pretty much the same time that it had departed in New York, due to the three-hour time zone difference. We spent the majority of this time as flies, carrying out a very quick de- and remorph after two hours to avoid being trapped. It was a rather dull and uneventful two and a half hours journey, but none of us talked very much, even to counteract the boredom. To be honest, I think we were all making the most of having nothing to do. There would be plenty of action later, I was sure. However, a few minutes after Philip estimated that we would be landing soon, Sam suddenly announced a thought that I for one, thought should have been addressed earlier.

--Houston, we, er, have a problem,-- she said suddenly.

--What do you mean?-- I asked. --What sort of problem?--

--We have to leave this plane as flies,-- she said. --But flies have awful eyesight. When we get out, how are we going to know where to go, or where to demorph? We have no idea what the airport is like.--

There was a few seconds silence.

--We had enough trouble finding our way to the plane,-- said Philip.

--Can't we just fly upwards and look for a roof?-- asked Ferdie.

--What if there are security cameras?-- Sam responded. --Flies can't make out details like that.--

--One of us will have to morph an animal that can see for enough, and can get us to somewhere safe,-- said Philip. --Something quick, something small, something that can slip past the guards unnoticed. Like a bat, or a maybe a snake.--

--I don't think any of us have any morphs like that,-- Sam replied.

--There will probably be loads of Controllers around,-- I said. --Who'll be on the lookout for animals. If they see any, they might guess who we are - or assume they are resistance. Whichever, they'll try and kill us.--

--Well, the other alternative is to risk demorphing in public, then we'll definably be in for it.-- Sam said. She thought for a second. --What morphs do we have that will get us past the baggage handlers?--

--I've got a mouse,-- Ferdie said. --You could ride as flies on my back. Or a scorpion? I haven't tried that one out yet.--

--What good's a scorpion?-- scoffed Philip. --And besides, I really don't think you should be the one responsible for getting everyone out. You did rather mess that ferret manoeuvre up, didn't you?--

--Well, I apologise for putting my ideas on the table,-- Ferdie retorted sarcastically.

--Guys,-- said Sam, trying to resolve peace. --I like the idea about three of us riding as flies on someone's back. But I think I should be the one to go. It's going to be a pretty dangerous mission, getting past them unseen, and then finding somewhere safe to demorph.--

No one could disagree with that. --Sure,-- I said. --What morphs do you have? Hare? They could probably get out pretty easily.--

--I was thinking crow,-- Sam said. --It would be easiest to get out, and I could find somewhere like a roof to get to.--

--Ok,-- said Philip. --Well, I can't be sure, but I think we are descending now. In a few minutes, we should demorph and remorph to reset the two-hour limit, and Sam can go crow then.--

He said this as a statement of fact, but I could tell there was a hint of a question in there, as though he was gaining approval from Sam.

--Absolutely,-- replied Sam, picking up on his courtesy.

We demorphed, feeling the changes in the pressure levels as the Concorde lost altitude. It was very cold in the compartment, there being no heating as there would be in the passenger cabin. It was made even colder by the fact that we were wearing just thin tee-shirts and leotards.

"Ok, then, you guys go back to fly," ordered Sam, when we'd confirmed we'd all demorphed.

"How are we going to find you when we're flies?" I asked. "It's really dark in here."

"You'll have to morph first. Everyone, um, put your hands on my back," she said sheepishly. "Keep them there as you morph."

We fumbled around for Sam's back, giggling like children as we brushed against each others' bodies.

"Who's back is this?" I head Ferdie's voice, followed by a pinch to my shoulder.

"Ow! That was mine!" I said, then bumped into someone myself. "Sam, it that you?"

"No, that is me," said Philip.

Eventually, after an embarrassing few moments, we were all grasping Sam's leotard in our hands, morphing to fly. A few minutes later, we felt the surface of Sam's back underneath us shift and change as she became a crow.

--Are you all on my back?-- she asked.

--We are, but try not to move around too much, or we'll fall off!-- I said.

--Maggie, I have to flap my wings to fly and that, I expect, will constitute moving,-- she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. --You'll just have to hold on tightly.--

--How are you standing the atmospheric changes?-- asked Philip. --I should expect we will be coming into land soon.--

--I'm ok,-- she said. --Pressure is increasing, but it's more the cold I'm feeling. I'm crouching down behind a bag. When they open the door, I'll be able to see what I'm doing, and I'll fly out.--

After a few minutes, Sam told us that it felt like that plane had just landed. It was now even more difficult for our bodies to sense these changes, as we were not directly touching the Concorde anymore.

--Ok, guys!-- Sam called after a while. --The plane came to a halt and while ago, but we've just been waiting for the handler to come along.-- She fell silent for a few more minutes. The rest of us waited in anticipation.

Suddenly, a burst of sunlight filled the compartment.

--The doors have just opened,-- Sam called. --Hold on everyone, I'm getting out of here. Welcome to Los Angeles!--


	21. Chapter 20: Names and Faces

Chapter 20

Sam flew us to the roof of the terminal, where we buzzed off her backs and quickly demorphed. The Los Angeles air was warm and breezy. The sun was high in the sky, and there were no clouds. Personally, I would have loved to lie here and sunbathe for a while. No wonder people loved this place. No wonder why movie stars lived here.

"You know, morphing on the roof in the middle of an airport probably isn't the best idea," Ferdie said, half to himself, half to the rest of us. "What if someone in a plane looks down and sees us?"

"I doubt anyone will do that," said Sam. "And if they do, they'd need a hawk's eyesight to be sure of what they were seeing."

"We should try and follow the passengers, work out where they're going," said Philip. "The website said they were going to be getting on a coach."

"I can see a car park," I said, seeing the thousands of cars glittering on the huge expanse of concrete. "Can't be sure if there are any coaches around thought."

"We should morph hawks," said Philip. "Get into the air for a better look."

Sam agreed, and we each took on our raptor morphs. Sam's was a lanner falcon, Ferdie's a hobbie, Philip had a buzzard and mine, of course, was the eagle. Sam took flew up into the air as soon as we were all morphed, and we took off, following her. We spread out a few hundred meters, so that it wouldn't look suspicious to see a load of birds of prey all flying in close formation. Ferdie was the highest, playing around in the air, taking little notice of what was on the ground. I was a hundred or so meters to the right of him. Sam and Philip were making wide, slow circles below us, scanning the ground.

--There's a lot of media coverage,-- Sam reported. --Loads of reporters hanging about by the main entrance to this terminal.--

--I guess this is a pretty significant occasion,-- Philip said. --They've got news crews, photographers, everything.--

I looked down at the ground, picking up every detail. There were around fifty or so reporters, with more jumping out a variety of logo-covered vans. Most of the reporters trying to crowd in through the main door or the terminal, but were being kept back by security guards. I noticed another crowd of them someway out into the car park, surrounding a large coach.

--Hey, guys?-- I called. --I think I know which coach the passengers will be getting on. It's that big black one round the side of the terminal. There's loads of reporters hanging around it.--

--That's no where near the main entrance,-- observed Sam. --I guess the celebrities get the special treatment and their own private exit from the terminal.--

--Special treatment because they're rich and powerful? Or because the Yeerks want to keep them together in order to infest them?-- Philip asked rhetorically.

--Hey - they're leaving the terminal!-- called Ferdie excitedly. --You can see who they are!--

I trained my eyes on the side exit, where a group of people, accompanied by men on dark suits and sunglasses, were being ushered into the coach. Some of them stopped briefly to acknowledge the media, all of whom had now been tipped off on the whereabouts of the coach.

--I think that guy in the blue shirt is Antonio Reiner,-- said Sam. --He owns some big internet-based company in London. I did a project on him last year in Business Studies.--

--And I can see a few politicians,-- I said. --I've seen the fat guy with the glasses on television a few times. He's English, which means that if they are going to become Controllers, we'll have Yeerks in the Houses of Parliament.--

--That woman looks familiar too. I think she's a French MP.-- Philip said.

--I recognise someone too,-- said Ferdie. --The man in the jeans, with the blonde woman? I think they are the Hewitt-Troys. Francis Hewitt-Troy is the Earl of Bromford. Philip and I are distantly related on our mother's side.--

--Good grief,-- said Philip, somewhat taken-aback. --I think you're right. And I think they've just been joined by a US senator.--

--This is much more serious than we'd imagined, guys,-- Sam said. --It's not just a bunch of pop stars and movie actors being taken. These are people who are in government. The Yeerks could be influencing the running of some of the most powerful countries in the world! Passing laws, giving The Sharing and other Yeerk-affiliated companies certain privileges. Giving them land and offices. Money. Making it easier for them to take Controllers.--

--We should morph geese,-- advised Philip. --They'll be setting off soon. We'll be able to keep up faster in our transit morphs.--

We returned to the roof of the building, demorphed and morphed geese, or, in my case, a swan. We circled to the airport for a while, waiting for the coach to leave. Eventually, the reporters began to leave, and the coach pulled away. We flapped on after it, keeping it in our line of sight. I turned out of the airport, joining the freeway which snaked it's way through the city below us. Soon, we were in the suburbs, and then the desert, heading north.

It was hard work, trying to keep up with the coach. We could fly at about fifty miles an hour, max, but it would take us a while to reach this speed. We were also having to fly lower than normal so that we could keep sight of the coach; at around two and a half thousand feet, compared to the normal height of five thousand feet where the air was thinner and easier on the wing. I only hoped that the trip wouldn't last for more than two hours. If we had to stop to demorph, there was no way we'd catch up with it again. Luckily, after about an hour and a half, it turned off the freeway and into a service station. It drove round the back of the station, towards a small business-style hotel, obviously to keep away from the prying eyes of the public. Or perhaps to infest them.

--We'd demorph while we have the chance,-- said Sam. --We've only got about twenty minutes left in morph, so we'd better take our chance. There's some dumpsters down to the left of the main building. We should be ok to demorph there.--

--Always the luxury treatment for the fugitives,-- sighed Ferdie. --Dumpsters. How very grand.--

--Philip, do you know how far we might have travelled?-- I asked, as we swooped down and landed.

--We were probably going at about forty-five miles an hour on average,-- he replied, starting to demorph. --Lucky the freeway was quite busy with traffic, or it might have been doing sixty. But I'd say that based on our speed, and the time we were travelling, around sixty or seventy miles.--

--How far is it to San Francisco?--

--Not too sure, a few hundred miles maybe?--

--Really? That will take ages! I hope they stop again for petrol, we can't stay in morph for that long!--

"We'll just have to land and demorph then," said Sam who was listening. She was still mainly goose, but her upper half was human, albeit covered in feathers, and had a human mouth and voice box. "If we loose sight of the coach, we'll just have to try and catch up later. Better to prevent being trapped in morph than to loose the coach."

"How long do you think they'll be?" asked Ferdie. "I might just nip to the lavatory."

"You really shouldn't," said Sam. "There's bound to be Controllers walking about who'll recognise you."

Ferdie stared blankly at her for a second, then snapped his fingers. "I can get around that," he said.

"How?"

Suddenly, Ferdie began to morph. Very slowly, and very carefully. It was barely noticeable. His hair became shorter and darker. His thin, finely drawn nose became a little rounder and shorter. His eyes turned from their usually mischievous green, to hazel and slightly slanted. He became a bit shorter, and more muscular. Suddenly, the morph stopped, and the new Ferdie grinned at us.

"What did you do?" I asked. "You didn't acquire another person, did you?"

"No, no," he said, in a rather hoarse voice. "I just began morphing to lynx, but stopped it almost immediately. How does it look?"

"Great," I said enthusiastically. "You look nothing like your real self. No one's going to recognise you."

"It's an improvement, I think," smiled Sam.

Ferdie grinned and slapped her playfully on the arm. "So, why don't you try out some improvements of yourself, Wonder Woman?"

Sam giggled girlishly, then went silent as she began to concentrate. Soon, her hair became lighter and rust coloured. Her brown eyes turned light golden. Suddenly, two long antlers popped out of her head.

"Oops!" she laughed, and reversed the morph. She tried again, this time stopping the morph before the antlers appeared.

"You haven't done a stag morph for ages," Ferdie said.

"Well, I'm sure I'm putting it to a good use now. I just hope I don't accidentally think of a stag later on and complete the morph!" Sam replied, putting on an American accent. "Mags and Philip? You two better do a part-morph if you want to join us."

I morphed part way to wolf, trying to make myself loose a few pounds. My hair became shorter and almost jet-black, my eyes larger and darker, my face longer and thinner. Philip grew taller and thick-set, his neat brown hair becoming very long, very straggly and much darker. I laughed - he looked so unlike himself it was incredible.

"What have you morphed?" I asked, as we set off towards the gas station.

"Musk ox," Philip replied. "I thought the hair would be rather fun."

I laughed. "I think you need to change that upper-class accent of yours, if you want to pass off as a biker."

We entered the gas station - which was more of a mini shopping-centre, with fast-food restaurants, shops and coffee bars - and used the facilities. Washing our hands, Sam and I stared in shock in the mirrors.

"Amazing, huh?" I said quietly. "We look nothing like ourselves."

"I know - it's incredible," replied Sam, cupping her hands and taking gulps of the cold water. I did the same. I had not had a drink of water since leaving New York, and my human body needed refreshing.

"Come on," said Sam, after a moment. "We'd better get back to the others. The celebs might be off again soon."


	22. Chapter 21: The Highway Stunt

Chapter 21

Following the coach was tough work, even for bunch of super-powered geese. We were flying at top speed, yet we were still barely managing to cope. Having left the city far behind, there was very little traffic on the highways to slow the coach down. Luckily, geese and swans didn't evolve as long-distance travellers to get worn out after a couple of hours, and so most of the time we let our humans minds be taken over by our geese and swan's brains, letting them do the hard work. This meant periods of long silence and so conversation was scarce. We were all anxious about what was going to happen in the next few hours. We would be meeting the human resistance. I, for one, could not help thinking that we might also be coming face to face with the most powerful Yeerk on earth, and perhaps our deadliest and most important battle yet.

--What are we going to do when we arrive?-- Ferdie asked after a while. Sam didn't answer for a moment or two - I assumed this was because she had retreated to her goose mind, and needed a second or so to regain control.

--Um, depends,-- she replied, which I guessed really meant 'I have no idea.' --See where this coach stops, I guess. I can't see the Yeerks will be wanting to hang about much after arriving, so I'm guessing they'll take them straight to wherever it is they, _infest_.--

She spat out this last word with contempt, making it clear to us that this mission was going to be bigger than we'd undertaken so far.

--Then what?-- I asked. --Follow them? Try and split the celebrities up, stop them from being infested?--

--There's no way four of us will be able to save twelve of them, not when their under such tight security. I can only say that we morph flies and follow them, just to see where they go. I guess we'll have to leave any rescue missions to the resistance.--

We flew on in silence for another half hour or so, until Philip interrupted the silence.

--We've been in morph for nearly two hours, guys,-- he said. --We have to demorph.--

--That coach doesn't look as if it's going to slow down soon,-- I said. --And there's no turnings off the highway for miles.--

--Well, if we don't demorph soon, we'll be stuck as geese for the rest of our lives,-- Philip replied. --We'll just have to land, and catch up later.--

--The coach will be miles away by then. We'll never get sight of it again.--

There was a moment's pause, then Ferdie joined the conversation.

--I've got an idea,-- he said animatedly. --It's going to be completely mad, and very dangerous, but it will allow us to demorph, and keep sight of the coach.--

--Don't tell me you want to demorph in mid air, Flawless,-- sighed Philip, half disbelieving, half worried.

--Nope,-- he answered. --I suggest we demorph on the roof of the coach.--

--You're right,-- Sam said. --That is totally mad.--

--Flawless - that coach is moving at over fifty miles an hour. There's no way we could land on it and keep our grip.--

--It could work,-- Ferdie insisted. --One of us lands and wedges themselves between the little groove between the two sunroofs. They demorph, and when they're human, the next person flies down and the first person holds them still while they demorph, to stop them loosing grip. We just do that four times.--

--You've actually put some thought into this?-- Philip asked incredulously.

--Of course,-- he replied. --We'd better do this before we get trapped. Who's going to go first?--

--Oh, right, so you've just decided that we're going to do this?-- retorted Philip. --Since when did anyone elect you leader?--

--Do you have a better idea?--

--We should at least make sure Sam's ok with it.--

--Fine. Sam?--

Sam sighed. --I just know this is going to go completely pear-shaped, but yeah, I say go for it.--

--Another one of Ferdie's crazy stunts!-- I chortled. --Are all polo players this mad?--

--Most of them!-- he laughed.

--Ok, guys,-- said Sam in her serious, leadership tone. --I'll go first. Then Ferdie, then Maggie. Philip, you come in last since you were the last to morph and you've got a bit more time than the rest of us. Alright?--

--Sure,-- I said. I was quite looking forward to this. A bit of Hollywood action for us.

--Ok! I'm off!-- Sam, a few feet in front of me, suddenly tucked back her wings and dived towards the ground. It looked strange coming from a goose - normally, that sort of movement is reserved for smaller and more agile birds - but luckily, there were hardly any other cars around to see us. Plus, we were flying directly above the coach, and the sunroofs were those darkened-out types, so it would be difficulty for any of the Controllers to see us.

--Whooo hoo!-- cried Sam, as she plummeted towards the coach. From our height, the coach looked like the size of a postage stamp, and I had no idea how she was going to land safely on it. However, our practice in morph had obviously reaped its' benefits, and Sam touched down on the coach and wedged her goose body in the space between the domes of the sunroof windows.

--What a rush!-- she laughed. --It's really windy here,-- she called. --And it's difficult to keep grip. Anyway, I'm about to demorph, but I won't be able to thought speak when I'm human. So I'm going to wave my arm to let you know when to come down, ok? Ferdie, you're next, so make you tell me when you've seen me wave.--

--Ok, sure,-- he replied.

Sam demorphed rather clumsily, trying to keep herself from being swept off the sides of the coach. As soon as her hands were formed, she took a tight hold on the little ventilations tubes that stuck out of the foot of the coach, and got herself comfortable. Then, she let go with both hands, and performed a clear and unmistakable wave.

--Ok, Ferdie,-- off you go,-- said Philip.

--Ok, Sam!-- Ferdie called. --Here I come! Get ready to catch me, baby!--

--Good grief,-- sighed Philip. --I don't believe those two.--

Ferdie flew down to meet her, and Sam grabbed his black and grey goose body in her arms, where he started to demorph. As soon as he was mostly human, she let go, his human weight now sufficient to hold him in place. He lay his body close to the roof, to avoid as much wind resistance. Then, he waved his hands, and it was my turn. I swept back my wings and flapped furiously downwards, never loosing sight of the coach. I had no idea how I was going to land on it - my timing had to be perfect. A second too early or too late would send me either crashing into the road behind it, or into the windscreen. However, I allowed my swan brain to take over as I performed my most difficult landing yet. Keeping my keen eyes fixed firmly on Ferdie, I glided down and flared my wings to slow down. Ferdie grabbed hold of me rather roughly, and I began to demorph.

"God, Maggie, no offence but your swan body is huge!" he laughed.

I didn't reply - I was trying to concentrate on not being blown away. Eventually, I was fully human, and adopted the same position as Ferdie and Sam. I waved to Philip, who flew down neatly and landed perfectly in front of me, demorphing quickly."

"What a rush!" shouted Ferdie above the howl of the wind.

"I'd prefer not to do that any time soon," remarked Sam.

"It's not actually that difficult to hold on," I observed, shifting my body round so I was facing Sam and Ferdie. "We could stay like this all the way to San Francisco."

"I guess we could actually," said Sam. "We won't have to do another stunt like this to reset the two hour limit."

"We'll have to morph flies before we get into the city, though," said Philip. "We can't risk morphing where there's loads of people around."

"Quite," Sam replied, getting herself comfortable. "I've just seen a road sign, by the way. Less than two-hundred miles to go."

"Three hours to go then," I said. "I dread to think what my hair will look like after that!"


	23. Chapter 22: The End of the Line

_Thank you for all reviewers to far! Again, just to reiterate the fact that no'one knows for sure where the Animorphs live, but before anyone flames me because they don't agree with me, let me just say that San Francisco works with my story here and I guess it's as good a place as any for them to live! Anyway…hope you enjoy, please review at the end of this chapter, it would make my day!_

Chapter 22

The journey was an uncomfortable one, to say the least. We were being blown around like mad, bits of dirt and dust kept getting in our eyes, and we had a rather close call whilst going under a low bridge. I was almost tempted to morph back to swan and fly the rest of the way. But at long last, we started to see signs that we were coming into the city. I peered out into the horizon. Crossing an immense stretch of water, I could just about make out a spectacular bridge. I assumed it was the Golden Gate bridge, which meant that we were at last in San Francisco; the city that Eramas had told Sam and the others where the tiny handful of human morphers were living and fighting. The end of one difficult journey for the four of us, but the beginning of another, longer and more difficult one. A new journey of which I could not even envisage the ending.

"Ok, guys," shouted Sam over the noise of the wind. "We've all seen quite a few signs now that we are coming into the city. I think we should morph flies now, while there's less chance of being seen."

"What are we going to do next?" replied Ferdie.

"Follow the passengers, and especially the four guys in dark suits who were with them. I think they might be Controllers."

I began to morph to fly, my heart beating in my chest. A sense of horror and dread was arising in me. This was the end of the line for us at the moment. By the time I demorphed, who knows what we may have seen? Thousands of unanswered questions were running through my head. Some that might be answered in the next few hours. Some that I would prefer not to know the answer to. And some which would probably remained unanswered for years to come. As I became more and more insect, I could feel the beating of my heart die away as it formed the simplistic organs of the fly. However, the thoughts were still swirling around in my head, and not even the fly's mad instincts could distract me from them.

--The coach is slowing down,-- said Sam, soon after we finished morphing. --And I can't see very far, but I think we are in a street in a busy part of town.--

The coach came to a stop.

--Alright, guys,-- said Sam, --lets get down and follow the suits. Try not to get noticed - they're probably on the lookout for humans in morph.--

We took to the air, and watched as one by one, the celebrities got off the coach. My fly eyes were limited, but I could just make out their faces, and it was possible to tell the passengers from the Controllers.

--What are those flashing lights?-- asked Ferdie. --There are so many of them coming from all directions.--

--I think they are camera flashes,-- Philip replied. --There must be a lot of media around.--

--Where do you think we are?-- I asked.

--I think we are outside a large hotel,-- he replied. --All the celebrities are being escorted inside.--

--Let's follow them,-- said Sam. --Keep out of sight - once we get inside, try and stick to the ceiling.--

We followed as twelve of the most influential and powerful people on Earth were escorted through a set of enormous glass doors into the hotel. About to become unwilling slaves to an evil alien empire. And there was probably nothing we could do about it.

--Out of sight now, guys,-- repeated Sam. I flew up onto the ceiling. My eyesight wasn't great for long-range vision, but I guessed we were probably in the foyer of a large and expensive hotel. I could just make out a large desk near the far wall, lots of comfy armchairs, coffee tables and a wide screen television. Through a set of double doors to the left, I could make out a large hall which was possibly the dining room. There were many people milling around, distinguished looking guests, stiff-lipped staff, cleaners and yet more reporters, who were being ushered out by a tall man in a porter's uniform. Hospitality staff were handing out elegant flutes of champagne to the twelve celebrities.

"Thank you all for coming," said a man who we hadn't seen before. The celebrities - potential hosts, I couldn't help but think - were being addressed by who appeared to be the manager of the hotel. "Welcome to The Pegasus. I cannot begin to say how pleased, and honoured, I am to have you all stay here. I do trust your flight was enjoyable - I, myself, an a great supporter of both Visser Enterprises and The sharing."

--No doubt that guy's a Controller as well, then,-- I remarked.

--I bet most of the hotel staff are Controllers. This place will be crawling with Yeerks,-- Sam replied.

--Gorgeous place though, don't you think?-- I asked. I was suddenly aware that for the last few minutes I had been subconsciously trying to ignore Sam's voice. --I know it's a bit hard to make out with these fly eyes, but I bet you need a pretty big pile to be able to afford a place like this.--

--Yes,-- said Philip simply, with the typical dismissive aristocratic habit of pretending not to notice anything that is grand or beautiful.

The manager was speaking again. "Right, I'm sure you're all wanting to rest after such a long journey, not to mention get out of the eyes of the, er…" He trailed away, motioning to a member of staff to rid the hotel of the media. Sounding embarrassed that his guests' privacy should be invaded upon like such, he continued,

"A light buffet meal and champagne reception has been prepared in the William Scope room," he said, turning towards a discreet door at the back of the foyer. "I assure you that you will be most comfortable there. At three o clock, a member of staff shall lead you down to the main conference room, where the president of Visser Enterprises and The Sharing will be greeting you and giving a short speech on what the evening will entail. You will then have a chance to rest in your suites. The coach will be leaving for the Enterprise's headquarters at five o clock for the main speeches. Dinner shall be served at eight, and the party will follow. The coach will be returning to the hotel at two o clock tonight."

--Notice how they're all being kept together for the majority of the time. I'm surprised the celebrities are complaining that they don't have enough freedom.--

--They probably aren't worried about something like that - look at all the champagne they're knocking back!-- said Ferdie.

--I wonder when they plan to infest them?-- I said. --Here, or at the headquarters?--

--If they infest them here, there's probably not much point in them being taken to the headquarters,-- Philip said.

--Unless that is where the newly-hosted Yeerks are briefed for some upcoming mission,-- Sam replied. --But all we know is, we have to take that itinerary with a very large pinch of salt.--


	24. Chapter 23: A Way Around

Chapter 23

The celebrities were guided into the William Scope room, which turned out to be a large, airy lounge with chic full length windows and crystal chandeliers. There were several stylish cream leather sofas, a number of framed watercolour paintings and high, panelled ceiling, which we flew up to rest upon. There were yet more members of staff handing out champagne and chocolates. There were two doors off this room besides the main entrance: one on the left hand side of the room next to a large, marble fireplace, and one on the right hand wall. And in the centre of the room, to the delight of my fly's senses, there was a buffet table, containing plates and plates of elegant and delicious looking foods. Meats, salads, fruits, sweets, cake…everything a fly could wish for. It took every once of brain power to prevent the fly's mind taking over and lapping up some of those delicious smelling puddings.

--Someone might have to hold me back!-- I warned the others, only half joking. --That buffet looks to tempting to ignore!--

--Don't you dare go down there,-- scolded Sam. --There are Controllers everywhere.--

Just then, a young, fashionably dressed woman turned round from the buffet and frowned at one of the dark-suited guys.

"Did I just see you lock that door?" she asked, in a fruity American accent which I recognised from the TV.

The suit smiled professionally at her. "We've had a few concerns about the number of reporters who have managed to pass themselves off as guests in this hotel. This is just a further measure in respect of your privacy.

The woman nodded and went back to sipping her champagne and talking animatedly to another guest.

Suddenly, I noticed a movement below me. Two of the dark suited guides - Controllers, we suspected, - were heading towards the door off the left hand side of the room. I pointed out my observations to the others.

--Ok, let's follow them,-- said Sam. --Keep out of sight though,-- she said for at least the third time.

We followed the suits out into a dark and rather dingy stairwell. The taller of the two of them closed the door behind him and turned to his partner.

"We have a problem with one of the prospective hosts," he said in a low voice. "She has bought a pet along with her, and refuses to let it out of her sight."

"What sort of pet?" asked the other suit, who I noticed was female.

"A small dog. Not potentially harmless, but it will not pass through the Gleet Biofilters unharmed."

"Why should that make any difference? The woman shall be one of us sooner or later."

"The filter of the proposed entrance is in the foyer of this hotel. It is not down in the main structure like many of the other filters. If the woman is taken to the entrance we had in mind, the dog shall be destroyed in full view of the humans, and this shall arouse distress and suspicion among the other guests."

--What's a Gleet Biofilter?-- I asked. --Did Eramas ever mention it?--

--I've never heard of it until now,-- Sam answered. --But there's no question now that these people are Controllers.--

"I see," replied the woman. "Might it not be possible to use the reserve entrance for this woman?"

"That is what Erossi and I had in mind. The reserve entrance has not yet been installed with a filter. The woman will remain unsuspicious until she enters the main structure, and by that time…" He trailed off, smiling coldly.

"True, but how do you know that dog is not an Andalite Bandit in morph?" the woman asked.

"The dog has been in my sight for over two hours. If it is an Andalite, it would have been trapped in morph by now. And I doubt very much an arrogant Andalite would be prepared to be trapped in such a feeble body."

"We will need to keep an eye out for the Bandits, though," the woman continued. "This is one of our largest operations to date, and we are expecting that they shall turn up at some point."

"Visser Three has prepared for every eventuality. In my opinion, I believe this whole operation was simply a trap for the Bandits to reveal themselves at a time when we will be most prepared."

"Don't let the Visser hear you say that though. He wants the Council to think that no prior arrangement has been set up, so that when the Bandits reveal themselves, and we succeed in capturing them at last, the Visser will be praised on his spontaneity and last-second thinking."

There was a pause, and the Controllers left the corridor and headed back into the lounge. Sam buzzed out after them, and we followed.

--Well, that confirms just about everything we've been worrying about for the last few days,-- she muttered wryly. --Yeerks, a trap…--

--What's all this stuff about Andalite Bandits, though?-- I asked, trying to ignore the sudden smell of cake with which my fly brain had suddenly became infatuated. --Are there Andalites on Earth?--

--I have no idea,-- replied Sam. --Eramas certainly didn't mention anything about any Andalites being on Earth. I'm afraid I'm as much in the dark about that one as you are.--

After another half hour or so of nervous waiting around and trying to stay away from the buffet table, one of the Controllers suddenly stood up and cleared his throat for silence. A polite hush fell over the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to announce that there has been a slight change to the schedule," he said, looking at a certain large woman who was patiently holding an ugly little dog in her arms. "I have had reports that one of the main elevator shafts is malfunctioning, and thus, we are forced to use the reserve shaft. This means that we shall be having to escort you down in small groups. I hope there is no problem with this?"

There was a murmur of acceptance from the guests, and so the Controller went on,

"Right then, if six of you could follow me when you have finished your beverages," he said, moving towards the door on the right hand side of the wall.

--We should follow them,-- said Sam, her voice unusually high. --One of the Controllers is shifting nervously. I think this might be where they take them to be infested.--

After a minute or so, six of the celebrities - including the Hewitt-Troys and the dog-owning woman - followed their dark-suited guide and moved towards the door, completely unaware of what lay ahead of them.


	25. Chapter 24: Down into the Depths

Chapter 24

We followed, four flies flying out of sight, as the celebrities and the Controller left the lounge and turned into another corridor off the right hand door of the lounge. This corridor was much more elegant than the last one; there were rows of doors which I assumed were entrances to some of the lower-cost suites. The Controller led the guests down the corridor, and stopped outside an elevator. He pressed the button, and smiled politely at the group.

--I don't know what's down there, guys,-- said Sam, her voice thick, --but I need everyone to be ready to do exactly what I say when I say it, ok? Whether it's to stay where we are, to morph battle animals, or get out, be ready, ok?--

--Sure,-- said Ferdie, a hint of childish excitement evident in his voice. --We're all ready for this.--

--Speak for yourself,-- I muttered dryly.

Just then, the door of the lift opened, and the Controller allowed the guests to step inside. The six of them crowed in, chatting quietly to one another, non the wiser as to what was about to happen to them. We flew in over the Controllers' head, keeping to the corners between the walls and ceiling at the back of the lift. The Controller entered. The lift doors closed and he tapped in the floor number. After a moment, we felt the lift started to move. To my surprise, it began to descend. I assumed we would be going to a higher floor.

"We're going down?" asked one person, a tall, dark haired man who Sam had pointed out to be the London businessman Antonio Reiner. "The conference is being held underground?" I assumed this man was used to large and spacious office, on the top floor of a building overlooking the Thames.

"That is correct," replied the Controller, not quite meeting the man's eyes.

The man shrugged, and turned to talk to Francis Hewitt-Troy.

The lift carried on downwards, for what seemed like a long time. I noticed that the guests were getting a little restless - we must have dropped down at least ten floors already. What kind of hotel has as much room below ground as it does above ground? My nervousness seemed to be effecting my fly body too. I was shifting around involuntarily, twitching my gossamer wings. My state of anxiety was leading to my fly body adopting one of the most universal and fundamental states in nature: the flight or fight response. Get ready to get out. Or get ready to fight back. One or the other was needed to survive this ordeal. And I had a sneaky suspicion we wouldn't be getting out of this one in a hurry.

At least, the lift came to a halt, and the doors pinged open. The Controller smiled at the six celebrities, and motioned for them to follow him. We followed them down a short corridor, at the end of which was a heavy duty. The Controller pushed the lever, the door opened, and the Controller and the guests went though.

Instantly, a sound I shall never forgot entered my primitive fly ears. To this day, I still hear this sound in my nightmares. The sound of terror. I heard crying. I heard screaming. Voices - human voices and non-human voices - sobbing, begging, shouting and cursing and anyone or anything that would listen. Then, as the door clicked shut, the sounds disappeared and we were enveloped in silence once more.

--The hosts,-- said Sam quietly after a minute or so. --This must be where they infest them.--

Suddenly,

--Andalites!-- cried a voice.

--What was that!-- I exclaimed, confused. I thought at first it had been Philip who had yelled, but then I realised that the voice had come from behind the closed door.

--It was thought speak,-- Sam replied. --The resistance! Do you think they might be here in morph?--

--I think the resistance are here, but I don't think that voice belonged to a human,-- said Philip urgently. --That voice belonged to something else.--

--What else has the power to thought speak? It can't be an Andalite - that's what the voice yelled!-- I cried.

--Eramas told us there was only one other creature in the galaxy with the power to morph, and thus, the power to thought speak,-- said Sam. --The one the human resistance have been fighting since the beginning. The one who is in charge of the Yeerk invasion.--

--Visser Three,-- we all said together.

--It's got to be,-- said Ferdie, who now at last sounded more scared than excited.

--And perhaps he is referring to the resistance,-- Philip said. --Perhaps the morph-capable humans really are here. Eramas told us that the Yeerks were not yet aware that any humans possessed the morphing power, and that he assumed that the resistance was a small band of renegade Andalites, stranded on Earth.--

Just then, we heard the ping of the elevator, and the second group of celebrities were being ushered down the corridor. Their guide - the female Controller - opened the door, and the celebrities stepped through. Again, the terrible voices filled my ears. And this time, I swear I heard the sound of gunshots being fired.

--This is the end of the line, guys,-- said Sam. --We have to get in there. This is going to be our biggest battle yet. I only hope that the resistance really are here. And I hope to god they believe we are on their side.--

--What about you saying this was a simple spy mission?-- demanded Philip.

--I said be ready for anything,-- said Sam quietly. --This is what we've travelled ten thousand miles for. This is the Yeerk headquarters. And this is where we are about to meet the resistance.--

--What morphs are we going to use?-- said Ferdie, who was obviously expecting a battle.

Sam buzzed down from the ceiling onto the ground. --I'm afraid you're going to have to go eagle for this one, Maggie. You don't have a particular morph, so you can be our eyes and ears instead. Philip, and Ferdie: Visser Three wants Andalites? Let's give him a few Eramas's. Maggie - you go bird. Everyone else? Let's go Andalite.--


	26. Chapter 25: The Grandeur

Chapter 25

I was fully eagle. And Sam, Ferdie and Philip were fully Andalite. Three tall, strong, identical Andalites, perfect copies of the brave warrior I had watched die aboard the Skrit-Na ship. Four blue furred, scorpion tailed, four eyed aliens. The instinctive mind of a solider, lightning quick reflexes, lethal tail blades. Three very deadly creatures. Even in one of my favourite bodies, I must admit, I was a little bit jealous.

--I forgot how amazing these bodies were,-- said Ferdie, taking a little step forward and swinging his tail expertly. --Everything is just so easy and natural. You don't even need to think about moving. You just do it.--

--Come on, guys, we'd better get out there,-- urged Sam. --Maggie, you keep as high up as you can. I don't know how high the ceilings are in there, but do your best, ok? Tell us about anything you think is necessary, however silly it seems. Everyone else, this is what we've been gearing up for.--

--What exactly are we going to do, when we get in?-- Ferdie asked. --Just attack the first Controller who gets in our way? We have no idea what's behind that door.--

--Locate the resistances ASAP,-- said Sam. --That's our priority. Then, get a feel for the place. See exactly what it is we are up against. Thirdly, we try and free the hosts. This might be the only chance we get to come down here in a long time. Forth, we get out, on my say. If we can't get out, then we fight our way out.--

--Why didn't we just stay as flies?-- I asked. --We should have got a feel for the place first, before we just barged in.--

--Our senses are no good. Plus, if we'd gone in a flies, we would have had to demorph out there. If we go in as Andalites, the Yeerks might assume that's what we really are - Andalite Bandits. Give their morale a kick at least. Try and shake things up a bit.--

Sam stepped forward, her pale blue, multi-fingered hand on the door handle.

--Be ready guys,-- she said. --This is it.--

Sam flung open the door and stepped out of the corridor, her tail held high above her head in a true fighting stance. Philip and Ferdie followed. Immediately, the cries and screaming filled my sensitive ears.

--Oh, god…-- moaned Philip. --Maggie, get out here!--

I powered up my wings in the dead air and swooped over their heads, soaring out into the Yeerk headquarters. And in those first few seconds, a million pieces of information hit my brain at once. A million pieces of information which I would remember for the rest of my life.

We were in Hell. That was the only word I could use to describe the place. Hell. An immense underground cavern, that was what we had entered. An enormous domed chamber, large enough for several shopping centres and a football stadium. There were yellow construction vehicles - bulldozers and diggers working away at bare earth to the far end of the chamber, ever expanding this colossal cave. Around the sides of the dome were dozens of elevators and staircases, all leading down to the bare ground of the chamber. They led up to entrances like the one that we had come down. I realised that this cave, the headquarters of the Yeerk empire, wasn't just the basement of a hotel. It probably stretched underneath half of San Francisco.

Hundreds of cages lined the walls, all containing a number of humans or Hork-Bajir. The hosts who were to be infested. Many were crying. Many more were screaming. They were calling out, begging to be led free, pleading with Hork-Bajir guards to be let out. My sharp eagle eyes spotted a tiny child, a boy, no older than five, sitting in the corner of his cage, crying for his mother. Tears streamed down his face. There were other people in the cage with him, a young girl and an old man. Neither attempted to comfort him. They sat by themselves, the girl staring silently into space as if she has accepted her fate, the old man mouthing what might have been a prayer. Hundreds of humans beings. And Hork-Bajir too. Stronger, thicker-barred cages stood on the far side of the cage, where I could see these enormous blade-covered lizards crying out like children. Hundreds, enslaved to this silently invading alien race.

In the centre of the cavern floor was a large, perfectly circular lake, about a hundred meters across. It was filled with what looked a sludgy, lead coloured liquid. Above the pool were what appeared to be floodlights, radiating an almost ultra-violet glow onto the pool. If I looked carefully enough, I could make out tiny, individuals shapes moving slowly through the liquid, leisurely soaking up the violet rays. Yeerks, in their natural state, I realised, a sickening sensation running through my body. Leading into the pool were two metal piers, each around ten meters long, one on each side of the pool. At the end of one of the piers stood a line of orderly humans and Hork-Bajir, waiting patiently in line. They, I knew at once, were Controllers. Standing at the end of the pier were two burly Hork-Bajir and a human Controller carrying a Dracon beam. I watched in horror as the Controller, a teenage boy, at the end of the queue knelt down on the ground, supported gently by a Hork-Bajir, and turned his face sideways so that his ear was facing over the liquid. Suddenly, something dropped out of his ear and plopped into the pool with a little splash. The Hork-Bajir grabbed him, holding him still. The boy immediately began to struggle, scream and wail, spitting and cursing, kicking and hitting out at the guards who frog-marched him to a cage and threw him unceremoniously inside. The boy continued to fight, but the Hork-Bajir turned away, as if they were oblivious to his pleas. As if they had seen it all before, a thousand times a day. They made their way back to the end of the pier, and the process started all over again.

I turned my attention towards the other pier. Here, the opposite appeared to be happening. Hork-Bajir guards would take a screaming human and fellow Hork-Bajir from their cage, and carry or march them towards the pool. From there, they would push them to their knees and thrust their head into the murky liquid, A few moments later, they would gently help them up, and they would be on their way. Controllers.

The celebrities were being rounded up like sheep, being thrown carelessly into cages. They began to shout and wail like the others. They had absolutely no idea what was happening to them. They had no idea of the Yeerks or the concept of being a Controller. And now, they had been plunged into it in the very worst possible way.

I noticed all of this in just a couple of seconds. Time just seemed to stand still as I glided over the pool, two hundred meters up. My eagle eyes saw everything. Every Yeerk crawling into a persons' ear. Every tear falling down the face of the prisoners. My ears heard every sound. Every cry, every shout, every curse, every slamming shut of the metal cage doors. I felt sick. I felt like a fool.

--This is bigger than we ever could imagined,-- I whispered to the others, who were standing as still as statues taking in the terrible truth that was dawning on them.

--There's no way we can fight this,-- said Philip, in monotonous tones. --We thought be were dealing with a few aliens in silver helicopters. This…this is like a whole country down here.--

Just then, several things happened at once. It was not possible for three Andalites and an eagle to suddenly appear in the very heart of enemy territory and go unnoticed.

The first thing to happen was a dozen Hork-Bajir suddenly turned around and pointed their Dracons at Sam and the others. The second thing to happen was for a forth Andalite to appear. A taller and stronger Andalite than the morphs of Eramas. I immediately knew who it was. It wasn't that he wore a badge or a sash pronouncing his position. It wasn't even the fact that he was the only other Andalite in the chamber. It was the fact that the Visser stood there gloating, resting daintily on his four hooves, radiating evil. He just oozed malevolence. The way he looked at us with his dark green eyes, so unlike Eramas's. The way he performed the slightest arrogant twitch of his tail blade, barely visible to a human eye. The way he didn't even hold a weapon. This was no coward. This was not Visser Five. This was an entirely new type of enemy.

--So, another team of Andalite bandits have decided to show themselves at last,-- he said softly, his voice permeating the chamber with malice. --I was beginning to think that your numbers were rather low. Perhaps I was mistaken.--

Sam stepped forward, her tail blade twitching, her eye stalking moving around three-sixty. --Don't say anything,-- she warned. --He thinks we're Andalites. Don't let him know we're Visser Fives' precious fugitives.--

--I agree with you on that one,-- said Ferdie, his voice quivering. --I just hope he doesn't notice we are all identical clones.--

--I see the nine of you fell for my little trap,-- the Visser drawled. --I was expecting just six bandits today to help rescue your pathetic celebrities. Instead, I get nine! Nine lovely morph able Andalite bodies, ready to go to my most loyal lieutenants.--

--Maggie!-- Sam called. --He thinks there are only three of us! He hasn't see you!--

--He said there were nine of us altogether,-- Ferdie said. --That means that the resistance are here.--

--I thought there were only five human morphers?-- I wondered.

--Don't worry about something like that, said Philip. --Try and get out of sight, but keep a look out and tell us what you see.--

--I have some interesting sights for you now, guys,-- I said. For the third thing to happen was another Andalite had suddenly appeared across the other side of the Yeerk pool. A smaller, younger looking Andalite. He stood with his tail poised, his main eyes fixed upon Visser Three. But his stalk eyes stared unblinking at Sam, Philip and Ferdie. I reported my sightings to the others.

--Another human in morph?-- asked Philip. --Or a real Andalite?--

--He's probably thinking the exact same thing about you guys,-- I said. --Hold up, there's more.--

Behind the Andalite, a flash of black and orange. A tiger stepped up beside the Andalite, his claws extending, his mouth open, growling softly. Beside the tiger was a gorilla. Huge and muscular, capable of tearing a human being from limb to limb. On the other side of the Andalite was a huge, brown animal, standing seven feet tall on it's hind legs. A grizzly bear. One of the most powerful mammals on earth. Beside the bear was a wolf. Large and grey, golden eyes like my own wolf morph. And finally, I noticed, circling above the pool like myself, was a bird. A large hawk, similar to Philip's buzzard, with menacing sharp eyes and a rush-coloured tail. It watched me, and for a moment I felt the eagles' mind grow a little aggressive as it considered the possibility of another raptor invading on its' space. All were looking at us as if we were either clones of Visser Three himself, or a gift sent by God to the help the. And they all looked ready to fight.


	27. Chapter 26: The Buthida

Chapter 26

Visser Three smiled wickedly; a strange expression using only his eyes, due to the fact that he possessed no mouth. And then, he began to morph. His blue-tan fur became black, melting together and forming a shiny outer layer of his skin, rather like as exoskeleton. He grew taller and wider, going from about six feet tall to at least twelve. His four horse-like legs and weak humanoid arms became long and spidery, multi-jointed and covered in thick, bristly black hairs. His face transformed from Andalite to that of some kind of giant insect - complete with gnashing mandibles and globular, compound eyes. His deer-like became pinched and elongated, the legs stretching out around him, until he resembled a giant ant. His tail had grown with him, and for the majority of the morph, had retained it's blue fur and scythe-like blade. But for the final change, it became black and thick like the rest of his body. The blade disappeared, to be released by what I knew was a curved, needle sharp stinger. It arched over his back, making the whole creature look like some mind of giant cross between a tarantula and a scorpion. The rest of us watched in terror. Not one of us made a sound. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife.

--What do you think of this morph?-- laughed the Visser, scuttling on his six legs towards the other group of morphers. --I acquired it in one of the forests of the planet _T'Yestinah-Yai_. It is called a _Buthida_. Meaning 'poisoned one'. Quite a finding, I'm sure you'll all agree. I have yet to test out its' abilities. But you, I am sure, will make fine targets.--  
Just then, one of the other morphers spoke to us. It took me by surprise to hear them thought-speak directly to us.

--Since three of you possess identical bodies, I guess you guys are the human fugitives we've been hearing about,-- the voice said breathlessly. I had a feeling it came from either the Andalite or the tiger, although I couldn't be sure. It's not always possible to tell exactly from whom thought-speak originates. The voice was young and male, and possessed the same air of certainty and confidence that both Sam and Philip encompass.

Sam addressed the speaker.

--Yes,-- she said simply. --We are not real Andalites, as you might have guessed, but humans. You must be the human resistance? We are- --

But she was cut off by the other guy. --Look, there's no time for your life story now,-- he said impatiently. --Yeah, we're the resistance, say hi to all six of us. But there's no time for that now. And I don't care what you came here for - we can talk about that later. But I think you should know that we're in a pretty serious situation right now. And if you want to survive, I suggest you follow my orders.--

For a moment, Sam looked like she was going to say something rude in response to being ordered about, but she kept quiet.

--We're with you on this,-- she said eventually.

--Then I hope you guys know how to fight,-- he replied soberly.

With that, the cavern exploded with action. Twenty or thirty Hork-Bajir whipped out their Dracons and immediately began firing at Sam, Ferdie and Philip. Sam was straight into the action. She galloped at the nearest Hork-Bajir, effortlessly dodging the rays of sizzling heat, striking with her tail over and over again. Her aim was perfect. It was almost as if she had been born an Andalite.

_Fwap! _A Hork-Bajir stepped back, injured from a gaping wound that Sam has left in his leathery chest. His partner pushed him out of the way, raising his bladed arm, ready to strike a blow.

_Fwap!_ The second Hork-Bajir no longer had an arm. The severed wrist fell to the floor, a Dracon beam still in it's clutch.

--Philip!-- I called, him being closest to the weapon. --Get hold of that Dracon! It's by your left hoof!--

Philip, who was sparring with a Hork-Bajir almost twice his size, gave a casual flick of his tail to the lizard's neck. It slumped, then fell forwards, almost certainly dead. Philip leant down and picked up the Dracon beam. He held it in his two Andalite hands, firing expertly at both human and Hork-Bajir Controllers, like the trained marksman he was.

--Where do I get one of those?-- Ferdie called. He was battling it out with a bunch a human Controllers, easily winning, clearly having the time of his life.

--Any Hork-Bajir,-- I called, watching the battle unfold beneath me. Feeling slightly guilty for not taking part, I performed a wide, slow circle of the chamber, calling out hints to Sam and the others, and watching the human resistance in their amazing animal morphs fight their own battle on the other side of the pool. The tiger was pouncing and dodging Dracon like some kind of supernatural being. The bear was bellowing and growling, loping towards anything in it's way, knocking them unconscious them with one swing of it's giant paws. They were all so fast, so natural, so entirely in control, I realised. I saw the wolf jump over four feet upwards into the air to clench its' jaws around the neck of a Hork-Bajir. I had never been able to do that as a wolf. I guessed forlornly that these guys had had more practice with their battle morphs, and thus were more acquainted with their abilities than we were.

--Jake! Behind you!-- The hawk called out to one of his fellow comrades. I was surprised to hear him include us in his thought-speak, but then he addressed Philip directly.

--Human fugitive with the Dracon beam - try shooting to your right!--

Philip span round, face to face with another group of Hork-Bajir. He pointed his weapon, fired, and down went the aliens.

--Good shot,-- I called down to him before circling up to join the hawk. --But there's still a lot more to your right.--

--That was just a warm up,-- he replied, spinning on his back hooves and taking aim at the five Hork-Bajir coming towards him. He nimbly dodged their Dracon, then returned fire immediately, just like he was trained to do. The battle raged on, the ten of us against an army of Controllers.


	28. Chapter 27: Into the Heat

Chapter 27

Whilst all of this was going on, the Visser was acting like a bit of a spectator, letting his troops do most of the work for him, letting them tire us out before he came in with the big guns, so to speak. Perhaps he was more of a coward than I first thought. After all, he was the only one in the room with a giant alien spider morph, and he was the only Controller not fighting. However, he certainly wasn't going to take a back seat for long. The Visser suddenly appeared to get bored of sitting around, and scuttled towards the resistance, his stinging tail jabbing and thrusting repeatedly at them.

--All my little Bandits!-- he crooned. --Together at last! Together, in our great Pool Complex!-- He laughed manically and darted towards the other morphers. Sticky black oil spurted from the tip of the tail, drops of which splattered the wolf and the ground around it.

--Arrgh!-- the wolf - a girl - cried. Her wolf body let out a howl as it desperately tried to lick off the burning liquid.

--Cassie!-- roared the bear - another female. She loped over to the wolf, an enormous lumbering beast, and dragged her friend out of the pool of burning oil.

The Visser stabbed again and again at the resistance, each time emitting more eruptions of the foul liquid. And each time, the animal morphers dodged and dived out of the way, sometimes coming back into attack again. The young Andalite was swinging his tail blade skilfully at the _Buthida's _outer skin, hacking though the layers of dark exoskeleton. The Visser yelled out in pain and outrage as the Andalite caused a wound deep enough to release a pus-like substance, which smelt a little like sulphur.

"_Tseer!_" The hawk, flying a few meters below me, suddenly let out an ear-piercing screech and shot into a dive towards the Visser, talons outstretched.

Copying the actions of the hawk, I dived down, raking my talons at the _Buthida's _eyeballs.

The battle raged on below me. Slashing, biting, growling, swiping - whilst our troops were holding back ther Controllers, I could see we were weakening. Many of the American morphers were badly injured. Sam was limping, dragging one hoof behind her and slashing weakly with her tail blade.

--Jake!-- cried the gorilla, bleeding severely from a large gash across his stomach. --I don't know how much longer we can carry on for! I'm thinking we should haul-butt soon!--

--I agree, Prince Jake,-- said the Andalite, calmly swinging his the side of his tail blade at an approaching human Controller. The Controller went down, unconscious. --Perhaps we should do what we came here to do, and leave as quickly as is possible.--

--You're right,-- replied the first guy - Jake - who I assumed was the tiger. --Marco? Try and get those celebs out of those cages. Just grab whoever is nearest and get them outta here. You know the rest!--

--On it!-- Marco, the gorilla, replied, knuckle walking his way over to the cage holding the celebrities.

Jake, still fighting two Hork-Bajir, turned his attention to Sam. --Not to be rude or anything, since I don't even know your name, but you have to do exactly what I tell you now, ok?--

Sam agreed, albeit somewhat taken-aback. --What do you need us to do?--

--Get one of your guys to morph the most powerful animal you have, and start helping my gorilla buddy Marco bash down some cages over there!--

--Philip!-- shouted Sam. --Musk ox, now!--

--Already on my way,-- he called, throwing his Dracon to Ferdie and galloping around the back of the cages out of sight. Less than two minutes later, he emerged, a snorting, grunting bull, possessing powerful thick horns and over two hundred pounds of furred covered bulk. He cantered towards the cages, ramming into the metal bars again and again. The bars of the cage collapsed, and the celebrities poured out of their prisons, crying and yelling, terrified and confused. The human hosts in the cages next to them began to scream and shout, kicking and banging at their own cage, in a desperate attempt to join them to freedom.

--Thanks for that!-- called Marco to Philip, before turning to the celebrities. He picked up one of the more attractive women, a tall, slim blonde, and flung her over his shoulder.

--Right - you twelve, I assume you all want to get out of this alive and free - if that's the case, follow me!-- He began lomping towards one of the exits, the celebrities almost tripping over themselves in a rush to escape. None of them seemed particularly bothered that they had just been spoken to by a gorilla.

--What are you idiots doing?-- bellowed the Visser, as he watched a dozen of his prospective hosts being led to freedom. --Intervene!--

Hork Bajir ran to prevent their escape. They blocked the exit or tried to grab the celebrities and take them back to a cage. But Marco managed to fight his way though, swinging his enormous fists and knocking the great lizards out of the way, never taking his eyes off the exit.

--I might need a little help, Jake,-- called Marco, heading towards one of the stairwells. --Gonna be more Controllers out there!--

--Cassie - you get with him,-- Jake ordered. Obviously this Jake guy was the leader, taking on a similar role to Sam. The injured wolf trotted after the gorilla, and the two of them disappeared up the staircase, followed by maybe five or six of the celebrities. The remaining celebrities were escorted by Hork-Bajir back to the cages. They screamed and shouted, aware they had lost their chance of freedom.

Philip galloped over to Jake's group, providing back-up for the last few moments. The remaining four of them appeared to be in much worse shape than the four of us, but the battle appeared to be coming to an end. The Visser was beginning to demorph, finding little success in his new morph. There were still dozens of unharmed Hork-Bajir Controllers around, but maybe of these were keeping far back against the walls, firing their Dracons unskilfully into the action.

--Fools!-- bellowed the Visser at his Hork-Bajir army. --If you carry on firing like that, you'll destroy all the hosts! Get into the battle and fight like the soldiers you are!--

--That's our cue to bail,-- called Jake. --There's nothing more we can do. You four - I suggest you join us if you want to get out of here alive!--

--Absolutely,-- Sam replied. --Philip, Maggie, Ferdie, let's get going!--

I swooped down towards the ground, following the hawk and he soared towards one of the entrances.

--Jake - this exit leads out into the mall!-- shouted the bear suddenly. --Too many innocent people around! Plus there's a Biofilter!--

Jake said a rather rude word. --We'll have to go Marco's way,-- he replied.

--But that leads out onto the street,-- said the hawk, another guy. --And if the Yeerks have seen two of us leave by that exit, chances are they'll have the place overloaded with Hork-Bajir.--

--No choices about that,-- Jake replied. --We'll just have to fight it out.--

Just then, Sam cantered briskly towards Jake.

--There's another exit,-- she said. --One we know about. The Yeerks don't know we came down by it. There's no filter thingy either. --

The tiger looked as if he could have kissed Sam. --Where?-- he demanded.

--Back by the cages where the celebrities were being held,-- she replied. --Forth door of the right of the big cage. It leads out into a corridor, and there's a elevator which I think will reach the top story of some hotel. We could get out onto the roof, morph birds, get away from here!--

--Right, that's it then,-- Jake called. --Rachel, Ax, Tobias - forth door to the right of the big celebrity cage - get going now!--

He turned back to Sam. --Can you get your guy to knock down the door?-- he asked, respectful of that fact that we were our own team so had our own leader and ways of doing things.

--Can do,-- Sam replied. --Philip? Can you remove the problem of the door?--

Philip lowered his enormous ox head and thundered towards the door. It came straight off its' hinges, and Philip galloped out into the corridor.

--Let's go, people!-- Jake barked. A tiger, a bear and three Andalites pounded after Philip into the corridor. The hawk and I dived down towards the ground and into the corridor. Since I had such a broad wingspan, I had to fly through the doorway sideways - a movement the hawk seemed to appreciate.

--You're not a bad flyer,-- he said, as the eight of us crammed ourselves into the lift.

--I could say the same thing about you,-- I replied. --I'm Maggie, by the way.--

--Tobias,-- replied the hawk. --And thanks, but I've had way to much practise in this body.--


	29. Chapter 28: The Animorphs

Chapter 28

The journey in the elevator seemed to take a lifetime. None of us were ever more eager to get out of that hell-pit than during those last few minutes.

--So, you guys can morph Andalites, right?-- said the bear. --I hope Ax here isn't offended.--

--I am not offended by those who use the Andalite body to assist our fight against the Yeerk Empire,-- the Andalite replied. He turned to Sam, his stalk eyes taking in every part of her borrowed body. --Might I ask the name of the warrior from which you acquired this morph? The body appears somewhat familiar.--

--Sure,-- said Sam. --His name was Eramas. Eramas Corion Jarvis, I think it was.--

The Andalite was silent for a moment. --Eramas, yes,-- he said thoughtfully. I have heard my father mention his name before. He is a great warrior.--

--_Was_,-- said Sam sombrely. --I'm sorry, but he was killed by Visser Five.--

--He would have died a hero's death. But his spirit lives on,-- Ax said, nodding towards Sam's morph. --He would be honoured to see his body put to good use. Even a copy of it.--

We rode the rest of the ten so stories, mostly in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. We had done it. We had found the human resistance, and we had fought alongside them somewhat successful. We had not freed all the celebrities. But we had saved some, and that was a start. After entering that hellish complex and suddenly realising what it was we were actually up against, it was more than any of us could have hoped for. I had no idea what was to come next. But I was sure that it would involve a great many more battles similar to the ones that we had fought tonight.

--Six is better than none,-- said Jake, appearing to read my thoughts. --On our first trip to the Yeerk Pool, we only managed to free one.--

I nodded in silence. I knew this was as good as it could have gone. But I still felt terrible for those other celebrities - and, of course, the hundreds of others hosts - still trapped down there. Ready to become slaves in their own minds. Perhaps we would free them all some day.

At last, the elevator reached the top floor, and we exited impatiently from the lift, for it was a small shaft and six large mammals did not take easily to its' confines.

--Any idea which way to go?-- I asked Sam.

--Well, we should probably try that emergency exit at the end of the hall,-- she replied.

--Have you all got bird morphs?-- asked Jake. --I know one of you has, but what about the rest of you?--

--We've all got birds of prey,-- Philip answered.

--Then I think we should morph them when we got up onto the roof. Get into the sky as soon as possible and find our other two team mates and the celebrities.--

Sam nodded. --I assume you were down in the Yeerk Headquarters due to the whole Concorde-Visser Enterprises thing?-- she asked.

Jake looked blank for a second, or as blank as a tiger can look. --Oh, you mean the Yeerk Pool,-- he answered, as Philip knocked through the emergency exit door, and we trundled out on to the roof, blinking in the sunshine.

--You know, you could have asked Sam to turn the knob,-- said Ferdie casually.

--Er, yeah,-- continued Jake. --My brother Tom is a Controller, and he's really involved in the Sharing, which is how we first heard about it.--

--You're brother's a Controller?-- I asked, appalled.

--Yeah,-- said Jake sadly. --Anyway. That's how we found out about the whole Concorde scheme. We did a bit of digging and decided we couldn't let twelve politicians and celebrities become infested like that.--

--So we went down to the pool to kick a little Yeerk butt, and that's when you guys showed up,-- said the bear.

--I guess we've all got a lot to catch up on,-- said Sam. --You probably have more information than what we want to hear about the Yeerks.--

--Probably,-- said Jake. --But I'm sure there's stuff you've got to tell us.--

--We'll probably publish a book on it sometime,-- said Ferdie chirpily. --_The Fantastic Voyage of the Five Fugitives_.--

--Five? Prince Jake was under the impression that there were four of you,-- said the Andalite.

--There are four of us now,-- I said sadly. --We might tell you about that later on.--

Jake was quiet for a movement, then nodded understandingly - a strange movement coming from a tiger. Then, he snapped into his commander mode, so similar to Sam's.

--We should be able to demorph here,-- he said. --I can't see any cameras or people around. Ax? You want to start going harrier?--

--I am on my way, Prince Jake,- the Andalite replied.

--Maggie, you'd better de- and remorph to reset the time limit while you have the chance,-- Sam told me. I agreed, and concentrated on my human self, feeling the changes begin.

Such a large group of us morphing and demorphing was a very odd experience. I was so used to watching Ferdie, Philip and Sam do it, that it had almost become normal. But now, watching complete strangers do it too, I suddenly realised how strange my life had just become.

Philip was the fastest morpher, even out of the four more experienced morphers. Faster, even, than the Andalite. He was fully himself before the bear was even halfway human. He stood up tall, brushing a hand through his light hair, allowing the others to get a good look at his face.

"I'm Philip, in case you hadn't realised," he said, empathising his strong English accent. He took Jake's still orange striped hand and shook it warmly.

"Quick morph," Jake commented, his voice emerging as a rather low growl as he completed the changes to his head. "And I see you've learned how to morph clothing, too."

"Only tight stuff," I said, watching my red and orange leotard appear over my skin.

"Same with us," said the girl who was a grizzly bear a few minutes previously, indicating to her own morphing suit, a trendy black aerobics outfit. She was very tall, very blonde, and I couldn't believe for one second she was warrior material.

--Oh, Rachel's tougher than she looks,-- said Tobias, catching me looking at the girl who I swore should have been shopping at the mall that afternoon. --Marco calls her _Xena: Warrior Princess_.-- He ruffled his feathers, his beady eyes fixed on Rachel's face. I noticed he had not yet demorphed.

Rachel tossed her long hair over her shoulders and smiled dazzlingly at Tobias, revealing a thousand pearly whites. I saw Ferdie gazing at her for a second, but he was bought back down to earth by a raised eyebrow from Sam. "I see you have an eagle morph too," she said to me as the last of my feathers melted away. "Bigger than mine. That is so unfair," she said jokingly.

"What eagle do you have then?" I asked her.

"Oh, just a bald eagle," she said dismissively.

"Bald eagle?" I said, impressed. "Cool."

"Speaking of which, we should hurry up and morph," said Jake. He was tall and broad shouldered, good-looking in a mature sort of way, with dark brown hair that flopped casually over his forehead. He had that serious, responsible type of appearance. If he was the leader, he certainly looked the part.

"Yeah," agreed Sam, who was standing up and nodding at Jake. I hope she would be able take place as second-in-command of this group. It was clear that Jake should be in overall charge - this was his territory after all, and he certainly knew his stuff. No offence to Sam or anything, but I'd noticed from first-hand experience that she could sometimes be a little pushy if she didn't get her own way.

We finished introducing ourselves properly, then each morphed our own bird of prey. Ax, the Andalite, had a northern harrier morph. Rachel, as I already knew, was becoming a magnificent bald eagle. Tobias was still a red-tailed hawk. Jake had a peregrine flacon morph, which was similar to Sam's lanner falcon and Ferdie's hobbie.

--What happened to you other team mates?-- Philip asked, as we flapped off into the air. We spread out naturally, without a command from Jake or Sam, knowing that it would look strange for a hunch of raptors to be seen flying together in such a large group. Ferdie immediately began showing off, performing exciting twists and turns in the air. However, he was soon outshone by Tobias, who seemed more at home in his hawk morph than any of us I'd seen so far.

--Marco and Cassie?-- asked Jake. --Hopefully they managed to get the celebrities to safety, and should now be driving somewhere along highway, heading towards the town hall. He'll drop the free celebrities off there, hopefully with a warning never to say a word about their experiences to anyone, and never to get involved with Visser Enterprises or The Sharing ever again. That's not much, I know, but that's all we can do. It's up to them now, not to get caught again. Hopefully, they'll come to thier senses and go into hiding or something.--

--I guess so,-- Saim replied quietly. Then,--did you just say _driving_?--

--Yeah, we, um, kinda borrowed a school bus earlier on and parked it outside one of the exits from the Yeerk pool. That's one of the reasons why Marco was in his gorilla morph. It's the only animal any of us have that can drive.--

I let out a snort of amusement in thought-speak at the idea of a gorilla driving a school bus of a bunch of famous people.

--Yeah, well it's the best we could come up with at the time,-- Jake sniffed. --Anyway, whatever you do, just don't mention his driving skills. He hates that.--

--Get Philip to drive next time,-- Ferdie advised. --He was taught in the army. He can drive a tank.--

--Yes, thank you, Flawless,-- said Philip, who obviously not want the sensitive topic of his disastrous army career being bought up so early. Luckily the four of them took the hint and said nothing more about it.

--Where are you guys living?-- asked Rachel. --I heard you fugitives escaped in Europe.--

--Yeah, we come from the UK,-- Sam answered. --It's been a pretty tough journey for us to find you. We've come entirely in morph. We don't really have anywhere to stay - we've been sneaking into hotel rooms or sleeping in the woods.--

--Ah, ok. Why did you come to find us?-- she asked innocently.

--We were advised to,-- replied Philip. --We were given instructions to do so by the Andalite Eramas.--

--And now, you've got Visser Five and a load of other Controllers searching for you?-- said Rachel, a note of malice just about audible in her voice. --Way to go to lead them straight to us.--

--I think we'll have to hear their story later, Rachel,-- said Jake, before Sam could respond. --They've obviously got a lot to tell us, and I'm thinking it's not going to take five minutes.--

--Got that right,-- I said.

--Well, I'm, sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on,-- Jake went on, --so I guess you should be part of our little group.--

He paused, and the four of us were quiet for a moment.

--Welcome to the Animorphs,-- he said.


	30. Author's Notes

Author's Notes

And that is it, dear readers! I do hope you enjoyed reading those four stories, for I have certainly enjoyed writing them! I can't believe they are finished at last! Sheesh, I sound like KAA… better stop!

Disclaimer: You know all this already. KAA owns most of the characters - Jake, the Animorphs, Visser Three, Visser One, the Andalites, and the whole idea. But Samantha, Philip, Flawless, Maggie and Asha are all mine.

**Animorphs Fan Art Done! **

I have drawn some 'front cover' morphs of Sam morphing a Lanner Falcon and Flawless morphing a stag. There are also some photomanipulation-morphs of Sam and the others doing various morphs.You can see them at DevaintArt - just do a search for Aizxana (sorry, can't get hyperlinks to work here!).

**Thanks to:**

_Quillain_: Again, thank you _so _much for all your kind reviews. Like one every chapter! I think I'm going to dedicate my next story to you!

_SinisterShadow _and everyone at the Forum: Thanks for all your continued support, reviews and advice!

And all my other reviewers - I love you guys!

Upcoming Projects

Since I have began to love the Fugitives, I have decided to create an AU have keep them on in my some of my upcoming Animorphs fan fics, with them fighting alongside Jake and co. Here is an outline of some stories I have in mind.

_The Terrorist_

_The Chee come across information about a plan to bomb a building of government offices in the capital - offices they know are infested with Controllers. They think it might be an act of terrorism, where the perpetrators know nothing of what is really going on in regards to the Yeerks. Should the Jake, Sam and the others let the plan go ahead - a major blow for the Yeerks, or intervene and save potentially hundreds of lives and the state's morale?_

_The Resolution_

_Nicole, Cassie's cousin, has become very ill, and lives in constant pain and fear. The doctors are talking about giving her the decision to die, but Cassie knows the morphing power will cure her. Should Cassie risk their secrecy to save her cousin and gain another member, or leave the matters to the hands of the doctors and Nicole? _

_The University Morphing Club_

_Ten years after the end of the war, morphing has become a sport in human society. Two first year university students decide to sign up for the Morphing Club. Neither of them have ever morphed before - what will it be like?_


End file.
